Crimson and Emerald
by LordBlackberry
Summary: As Harry Potter wanders the city of New York he encounters one of it's many heroes: Daredevil. This chance meeting spawns a new relationship, a new purpose, and finds New York City another protector (not that it needed anymore than it already had). Harry Potter/Daredevil crossover initially, but gradually incorporates further elements from the MCU.
1. First Contact

He was lost. Lost in the sprawling metropolis that was New York city. By the odour in the air, he would say he was in a wretched sewer, but by the sights around him he was quite certain he was in a dark alleyway surrounded by brick walls at every side. How in Merlin's name he found his way into an enclosed area unintentionally, he did not know, but Harry was beginning to realise that foreign travel was surprisingly difficult. When he tried to make his way to the bazaar in Cairo, he found himself at the end of two wands, both being wielded by a pair of, most likely deceased, religious fanatics. When he attempted to travel to one of South America's famed beaches, he found himself in the middle of a dense jungle staring at a carven stone totem which appeared to have some degree of sentience. The point was, when he was trying to get to the Museum of American Magical Activity, he found himself in a dank alley way without a clue as to where he was, how he got here, or whether or not he would give up on using his resourcefulness and intelligence to get him out his present predicament and simply apparate to a registered apparation transit facility. He did recall the one in Chelsea serving an excellent Merlin Macchiato, not to mention the scrumptious Patronus Pecan Pie, but that might have been before The Cata-BANG!

It was one of his abilities, as Master of Death, to slow down his moment of demise to a speed so sluggish, time didn't appear to move at all. After everything he'd been through, it seemed as if he were to die at the hand of some low life street thug, looking to make an easy galleon. He'd managed to survive the second wizarding war without serious injury, and he'd made it through The Cataclysm without a scratch. And to contextualise such an achievement, for those not well versed on the intricacies of contemporary wizarding history, The Cataclysm was the end of the wizarding race. One day, an over ambitious wizarding archaeologist (idiot) inadvertently activated an ancient wizarding artefact in Norway. Harry only managed to survive the ensuing global catastrophe because he was on a research expedition to The Moon. Since the beginning of magical life, not a single member of the wizarding race had ever stepped foot on the Moon. From what he gathered from Astronomy lessons, it appeared his kind believed the moon to be a slumbering deity that had created all magical life at the universe's inception, and if disturbed had the capacity to end all magical life. They'd even made attempts to stop the Apollo mission, but sadly every wizard and witch they'd sent didn't know what exactly a space shuttle was and therefore had terrible trouble stopping its launch. Harry hadn't travelled to the Moon by space shuttle of course. He originally planned on getting there via a retrofitted broomstick, but in the end he opted for a magic carpet; they'd always been better for long distance travel. Obviously, whatever this artefact was, it only worked at a certain range, and evidently the moon had been beyond that range. He'd travelled there on a last ditch attempt to locate the Crumple-Horned Snorkack, as a thank you to Luna for using her powers of prophecy to determine the weather for that upcoming Saturday (a Saturday he hoped to play Quidditch on). He didn't find it of course, there were a few interesting craters and a new species of magical fungi, but not a hint of any creature that could be considered a Crumple-Horned Snorkack. He had arrived back no more than two days later, to find every wizard and witch wizard across the globe gone. Everyone of them seemed to have vanished without a trace. Magical artefacts, objects, structures, and animals had remained of course, but no longer could Harry call himself one Wizard of many. He was alone, and had been since that day 6 years ago. This trip was one of a number he'd embarked on to secure the world's magical paraphernalia. He'd managed to fill 478 warehouses with his various finds, and now it seemed his journey was coming to a close.

He braced himself for the impact, quite satisfied with his achievements up to this point, and was willing to enter the great beyond. While he'd made his peace with the world, it seemed the cosmos had another plan for him. At the last possible moment, the bullet hurtling towards his forehead was batted from it's path by a blood red baton. With a couple of graceful punches and kicks, his assailant was down and his life saved. All of it, he had to thank the man in the crimson devil suit for and based on his recent display of physical fitness, he frankly wouldn't mind thanking this daredevil of a saviour. Seeing him beginning to retreat from the alleyway he took his chance.

"Thanks for, you know… the help. It's nice to know this alley way has a defender." Harry said, stumbling over his words, partly due to his near death experience and partly due to his immediate attraction to the man in red.

"It's really more of a city wide operation. And I happened to be in the vicinity, so saving you from a grisly death was really just a convenience" The mystery man gruffly stated, though Harry was sure he could detect a smile on the man's shadowed face.

"My name's Harry, by the way. In case you wanted to know. Harry Potter" Harry said, now more comfortable with his full name, in the knowledge that he was no longer a famed figure.

Just as Harry had finished, he saw the man in red was bounding away, springing from one alley wall to the other. Realising that he may never see this chap again, he discreetly launched a tracking charm at him. While admittedly the man was somewhat rude for springing out of their conversation, the horns were really doing something for him.


	2. On The Hunt

He was out, out of that filthy alley way, and into the wide open streets of New York. He had business to attend to, and he could fantasise about his masked saviour when the magical artefacts of New York were in his possession and under lock, key, and a ludicrous number of magical defences. After all, he was the head and only member of the Bureau of Magical Affairs (BMA). He couldn't believe it had worked to begin with. He had really gone to the United Nations to quiz the International Confederation of Wizards (who shared the building with the UN) on the glaring lack of magical life on the planet. Their absence told him everything he needed to know, as it was policy to keep at least 15 wizards in the building at any one time. If that wasn't confirmation enough, the ICW kept an archaic device in their offices. It measured the strength of magical life on earth, and while it was usually coloured a vibrant green, as Harry saw it, it was a dull, lifeless grey. At the time, thoughts of loss, grief, and immense sadness briefly crossed his mind, but it was one thought that had defined his life ever since: an entire world of magic exists, and it had no wizards or witches to defend it against the mundane. So, seeming as he was in the same building, Harry employed some subtle mind magic and by the 10 o'clock news, he had international jurisdiction, responsibility, and judicial power over all things magical, mystical, and unusual. While the BMA's office in New York was simple, it acted as a steadfast base of operations for his hunt for the Museum of American Magical Activity. As Harry wandered down the street, he remembered how much of a pain that blasted museum had been. It appeared that while it's previous operators had protected it from wizards, they had relied upon their presence to protect it from muggles. Thinking of the many magical weapons that had been displayed in there made him shiver. While they were only reasonably powerful to a wizard, they were equivalent to a rocket launcher to a muggle. So while the world was flooded with a menagerie of magical trinkets, Harry concocted a plan which would allow him to get them back. Deciding he'd cleared his head enough he apparated to his offices, unlocked the door, made his way to his room, and slumped into the plush leather chair he'd gotten for this exact purpose. Rubbing his temples, an idea struck him! It was so simple, yet having been bogged down in the capture and prosecution of thousands of petty criminal who had somehow fallen under his responsibility, he had been mentally strained for some time now. A simple magical energy sensor could be deployed, and if he was lucky he'd find the museum before you could say quidditch. While locating this museum now seemed a simple task, prosecuting those who had taken objects from it was not. Sadly, there was one thing his agreement with planet Earth's leaders could not save him from: due process. According to section 2, paragraph whatever, he was obliged to give every suspected magical criminal a fair trial. So every time he finally caught one of the bastards, he had to find an available court room and go through the slow and painstaking motions muggles called the justice system. While he was. allowed to act as the judge, jury, and prosecutor, he had to find his suspect a defence lawyer. He'd always tried to find the worst lawyer imaginable, but in some regions there was a basic standard of proficiency possessed by all legal professionals, which made Harry's habit of presenting no evidence and disregarding all legal procedures somewhat difficult. But before Harry even thought of hunting for a defence attorney for his hopefully many defendants, he needed to find the museum.

Harry struck an odd sight as he darted around the footpath. He was constantly moving the small wooden triangle cupped in his palm, to see if he was getting any closer to his location. In a ill advised attempt to appear more normal he chirped a cheery "Good morning!" to every pedestrian that passed him by. He weaved between street lights, hot dog stands, and angry New Yorkers with a swish of his prominent robes. All of this amounted to very little. Occasionally he'd hear a light buzz, but it'd disappear as quickly as it came to be. He decided on a new approach.

Seeing a reasonably friendly looking pedestrian searching for their keys, Harry took his chance.

"Hello there. Lovely day isn't it, yes absolutely splendid. On that topic, I was wondering if you'd noticed anything…unusual, in the neighbourhood" Harry said, not letting his new friend get a single word in.

The man looking mystified by Harry's question, thought for a moment or two, while looking around to see if this was some kind of elaborate hoax.

"Nothing truly unusual. I mean how could anything be classed as unusual after everything that's been going on lately. But, I did hear from a friend of mine at work that he'd been seeing some weird ripples in the air around 1st avenue" The man said, not really believing his friend's suspicions but hoping to satisfy the obviously deranged man speaking to him.

To Harry this was fantastic news! Ripples in the air had always been a tell tale sign of magical activity, so with a quick thank you to his new friend he hailed a cab and gave his driver the directions. Finally, he'd secure the last of the worlds rogue magical objects. He could take some time for himself, maybe track down his horned hero, and enjoy long days on sunny beaches far far away from anything to do with defence attorneys, the united nations, or muggles who thought they'd have a bit of fun with the Amulet of Arcane Atrocities.

With a sigh, Harry slumped into his seat and let his taxi cab do the rest of the work.


	3. Museum Mayhem

Harry stepped out of his cab and began to search for the ripples his helpful new friend spoke of. While he couldn't detect their presence at first, the smell of magic permeated the area. Following his nose he found himself in front of a large warehouse the facade of which flickered occasionally. An illusion was at play, most likely some form of visual alteration ward. With a swish of his wand and a muttered incantation he deactivated the initial ward to discover a myriad of additional defences lurking behind it. He should have expected this, but in his moment of triumph he had hoped that this would be resolved swiftly. Summoning a tasseled pillow he sat down and began pulling some items, which would be essential if he were to begin stripping the building of its magical defences, out of his undetectably extended briefcase: kettle, tea, magical detection spectacles, and a stack of dusty tomes. Fully equipped, Harry set to work. It was a long and arduous process, briefly made exciting by the various offensive measures that had been integrated into the structure's ward matrix. Every now and then a fireball would come bursting fourth from one of the windows, and occasionally the projection of a ghastly green dragon would swoop down and close its phantom jaws on Harry's head. After he'd finished, he'd had to deactivate 7 defensive wards, 6 offensive enchantments, brew 25 cups of tea, and flick through the brittle pages of his collection more times than he could count. Throughout the process he had expected more people to pass him by and had even set up some basic muggle repulsion enchantments in preparation of such interruptions, but the only people who had wandered past him were a handful of blind people with red backpacks. New York was a truly odd city.

With a final flourish of his wand, Harry dispelled the last remaining enchantment and allowed the building's true appearance to reveal itself. Brick became sandstone and clear glass became stained. The original sign stating "Sven's Scandinavian Storehouse" revealed itself to be` an ornate gold leaf placard proudly announcing the existence of the "Museum of American Magical Activity". Thinking he'd perhaps waited long enough for this moment, he packed up his equipment, and hesitantly approached the oaken doorway. Giving it a gentle push, the door creaked open and exposed the building's grand marble foyer. Littering the space was a number of gilded plinths, on which rested pristine glass cases that contained a series of arcane objects. Walking further forward he started to look at some of the displays: a bent wooden ladle, a glowing scroll, and a shiny metal cube covered in runic carvings. Everyone of those and more were luckily protected by some of the wizarding world's greatest defensive enchantments this side of Gringotts. Remembering the pamphlet he read, Harry knew that there was a vast collection of objects at any given time not on display and without a similar level of protection. It was these objects that troubled him. Wanting to ensure that he was alone, Harry muttered a hasty "Homenum Revelio" beneath his breath and was immediately presented with 8 glowing shapes in the far east wing of the complex. Then something happened. Something he wasn't expecting at all: another glowing mass dropped from the ceiling, this one different from the other eight. It swung down from the crystal chandelier overhead with what appeared to be a billy club anchoring him to the upper level's bannister and landed with a muted thud. It was him again, it was Daredevil.

"Sir, you're going to have to leave the building. There are multiple armed assailants in the eastern wing of this structure, and before the situation gets any worse you should get yourself to safety" Daredevil said, obviously concerned for Harry's wellbeing and hoping to get on with the business of kicking ass.

"Ah, I thought we might hit this little snag. While appreciative of your work in the city, let me tell you how WE are going to proceed with the upcoming conflict. What you saw in the alley was a unique moment of obliviousness for me, and whoever is in the east wing is just as much my responsibility as it is yours. So, by the power vested in me by the Magical Activity Regulation Act of 2018 I hereby appoint you a temporary agent of the Bureau of Magical Affairs. Now, lets see how much ass we can kick, or in my case zap, together. After all, I'm not completely helpless" Harry said with a noticeable degree of scorn in his tone. Seeing that his horny hero was about to say something in response, Harry pointed his free hand at the doors leading to the east wing and blasted them open, briskly walking towards them shortly after.

It was an understatement to say that Daredevil was flabbergasted, but seeing that Harry wasn't as unskilled as he first thought, he momentarily buried the numerous questions that were fizzing about his mind and followed Harry's lead.

Harry was striding purposely towards the storage room in the east wing, not bothering to look behind him in order to see whether or not Daredevil had decided to follow him. It mattered not, Harry was going to neutralise any magical threat to the public with or without his help. Luckily it didn't have to come to that as he could feel Daredevil come to walk beside him.

"I sense seven heavily armed combatants, and a number of objects bearing a strange frequency. Do you know what they are? Is there anything I should be prepared for?" Daredevil said, hoping to assess the threat level of whatever fight he was about to engage in.

"I know what they are, but you wouldn't understand me or believe me if I told you. All you need to know is that they should have been left undisturbed" Harry said, not wanting to explain the entirety of the wizarding world when they were just a few paces from a door leading towards their enemies.

"You wait here, I'll go in first and take out as many as I can. Wait for my signal." Daredevil said, while moving his hand towards the doorknob. Harry, reasonably confident in his admittedly impressive abilities, struck out his hand and flung open the doors. "Okay everyone, listen closely. I'm sure we're all capable of resolving this as quickly and as-" mid way through speaking Harry was confronted with a paralysing sight.

There was blood, a lot of blood. On the floor, on the chest of the man tied up on a wooden chair, and on the bloody knives which had obviously recently been used. Harry's knees buckled and he desperately clutched at whatever purchase he could find on the wall. It was probably the immediate surprise of Harry's sudden entrance into the room that prevented the 7 thugs from instantly charging at him, but either way it gave Daredevil enough time to spring into action from where he stood next to the door. Harry didn't like blood, he never had, but after the Battle of Hogwarts he couldn't stand the sight of it. Every time he even glanced at blood a wave of nausea overtook him and a violent sickness spread throughout his body. It appeared he had developed a psychological aversion to the substance after witnessing the volume which was shed during the final moments of Voldemort's demise. Hearing Daredevil's surge of kicks and swings, Harry remembered his breathing exercises: deep breath in and deep breath out. Allowing the calm to wash over him, Harry decided that Daredevil, probably struggling on his own as magical weaponry was most likely in use, would need assistance. Closing his eyes, Harry began to sense the enemies in the room: two near the bookshelf, three swinging wildly at Daredevil, and two lying unconscious on the ground. Bursting into action Harry kept his eyes clenched shut just in case he caught another glance of his bloody surroundings and unleashed a burst of debilitating lightning bolts from his wand tip, hoping to stun rather than slay. It worked. The two near the bookshelf were now slumped against the wall, and one of three fighting Daredevil had collapsed to the ground. Intending on letting his red friend finish up here, Harry practised some further deep breathing and tried to take account of the room's magical objects.

Daredevil was a blur, thrusting his fist in every direction humanly possible, while swiping his legs at the feet of his assailants. After noticing Harry was out of action, Daredevil steeled himself for a difficult encounter, especially considering Harry's ominous warning. It turned out Harry was correct to be ominous. One of the thugs currently trying to catch him with a right hook had a pulsing ruby bracelet on his wrist that seemed to grant the man some degree of super strength. Ducking the blow that was about to impact his cheek, he spun through the air and kicked the man square in the jaw, delivering a heavy blow which knocked the man off his feet and into unconsciousness. It had by no means been an easy fight, but he imagined if the man wearing the bracelet had had any real fighting abilities, he might have been far worse off than he was. Seeing that Harry had done some damage, if the three electrically quivering bodies were anything to go by, Daredevil went to help him up from his position. He extended a gloved hand as an offer.

"While I don't doubt you can take care of yourself, at least accept my help just this once so we can ask some questions of the only person still conscious in this room." Daredevil said, glancing over at the man tied up and gagged on the chair. Harry, not trusting the strength of his own legs, accepted the hand and walked over with him to the man who was violently struggling against his bonds. Pulling a knife from his suit, Daredevil went about cutting the man's bonds and gently removed the duct tape that was keeping him from speaking.

"Ohhh, thank you, thank you so much. They interrogated me for hours, I thought I'd never be freed." The man gasped, his breathing laboured. His body was littered with scars, cuts, and purples bruise; all of them seemingly souvenirs of his time with the men now coating the floor. "Yes yes, that's all well and good." Said Harry, averting his gaze from the streaks of red covering the man's body "But, what I'd really like to discuss-" Harry gagged "is what these men were so intent on you divulging".

Daredevil, surprised by the intensity with which Harry was struggling to remain upright, offered his arm for Harry to lean on. He leapt at the opportunity to support himself, and grasped the offered arm with white knuckled ferocity.

"Well" said the man still shaken by the trauma he had endured for many days now "nothing really, I can't really think of anything that I know or have that would be of worth. I'm just a bartender, they captured me when I walked past on my way back from work."

While the man was saying this, Daredevil cleared his mind and focused his senses on the man's heart rate. With every word he said, the man's heart rate grew ever faster. He was lying, but for what reason Daredevil didn't know. If the man wasn't willing to be truthful with them, Daredevil would have to encourage some honesty himself. Walking over to Harry, Daredevil paused by his side and whispered "He's lying, he does know why but he's not willing to tell us. I'm gonna see if I can change his mind. Does that conform to the legal guidelines of whatever legislation you mentioned earlier?"

"Alright, fine. Just don't spill any blood, while there is a clause that allows any member of the BMA to take extreme action against suspects who pose a genuine threat to national security, I don't know how far it extends." Said Harry, trusting in whatever abilities lead Daredevil to such a conclusion, but not excited by the prospect of further queasiness.

As soon as Harry had finished speaking, Daredevil spun around, grabbed the man by his throat and thrust him up against the wall adjacent to him, causing the man to squeak in terror. "Now, just so we're clear, I know you're full of shit, and I want answers. Real answers, not whatever you decided to tell us a few moments ago. Okay?" Said Daredevil, hoping to frighten some information out of the chap. Seeming as the man was nodding vigorously, Daredevil loosened his grip and allowed him to speak.

"Okay, I lied! I was just trying protect myself from whatever mystical baloney you two just dished up to those thugs." Said the man, rubbing his neck in a weak attempt to sooth the angry bruises that had begun to blossom "I took something from here, nothing special, just an emerald ring with a few inscript-" "What! What did it look like? Did it feel sinister? Did it reek of evil? Could you sense the ill intent cascading from it nexus?" Said Harry, hoping to clarify his suspicions.

"Well, I guess so. I don't know if it was as poetic as that, but when I was wearing it around the house my dog would try to bite me, some of my furniture attempted to trip me, and my wife came at me with a colander when we were making pasta the other night" The man said, gradually growing more aware of his ring's true nature.

"In my culture, we call it the Ring of Nefarious Intention, and in your's…well, I don't imagine you have a name for it as you two are the first muggles to hear of it's existence. It projects dark emotional energy to anything in its presence, anything except it's wearer. The ring ultimately ends up killing who ever wields it, but for some reason, there are very few who can resist it's allure." Harry said this with a grim expression on his face. This was an alarming discovery, Harry, having studied the ring's mythological history, had thought it to be lost after Victor the Vile dropped it down a gaping arctic chasm in 1624. Apparently it hadn't, and had somehow made it's way into the Museum of American Magical Activity's collection.

"Where is it now then? If this ring is truly as hazardous as my associate says, we need to contain it before it falls into the wrong hands" Daredevil said to the man, optimistic that he could be home in time to rehearse his opening remarks for his court appearance tomorrow. "No need." Said Harry "Its in the room, I can sense it's malicious presence. Dark magic has always been very pungent."

With a flick of his wrist Harry's wand appeared in his hand. "Accio Ring of Nefarious Intention" Recited Harry. With a rip, the ring ring tore out of the man's shoe and flew into Harry's hand. "This one is a tricky bugger. It's had a part in the collapse of 7 kingdoms to this day, but luckily the foul stench of your sock prevented it from having any tangible effect on us." Harry said while conjuring a magical suppressant strong enough to contain it's vile taint.

While Harry constructed a containment vessel and the man nursed his wounds, Daredevil took stock of the past few minutes: Harry was a sorcerer and the word magic now had real world application. These two revelations coupled with his desire to grow closer to Harry were enough to ignite an emotional maelstrom within. Everything Stick had told him about severing personal ties went against his natural instincts as a man. He wanted to know more about Harry, but his Daredevil persona would mostly likely obstruct any meaningful connection. It seemed as if he was doomed to be alone, but at least try to avoid such a grim future.

Harry, having finished securing that blasted ring, bent down to check the enemies they had recently overcome. Male and female alike, all of them had been skilled fighters. Inspecting them closer, he noticed a symbol. It was small, but recognisable: two swords crossed before a blank face. Checking the other bodies, he noticed that all of them bore this identical mark on their right sleeve. While he didn't know their name, he knew their trade. They were in the business of collecting objects of immense power and using them for unsavoury purposes. They were entirely muggle, but it seemed they had developed a fondness for unattended magical items. Finding the artefact register, Harry was relieved to see that every item, save the ring, was neatly positioned on a table in the corner of the room. One less headache, for Harry's increasingly throbbing skull.

"Do you recognise this symbol?" Said Harry to Daredevil, hoping that he would at least be able to provide Harry with their name. "Of course I do, everyone in Hell's Kitchen would as well. They comprise half of the criminals I fight on a daily basis, but I still don't know anything but their insignia."

"I guess that's something. I doubt they'll be any trouble any more, I imagine this is their entire stockpile of magical weaponry, and it's not as if they can create more." Said Harry, in an attempt to reassure his overburdened mind. Harry, noticing Daredevil seemingly caressing the walls, decided to see what his masked man was up to.

There were letters. Letters on the wall, three of them carved into the wood of the wall. Turning around to catch Harry's attention he noticed that he had already made his way over to the surface and was just as intrigued as him.

Harry could see why Daredevil was fascinated with the wall. Someone had carved the the letter O.V.V into it. They were crude, but large enough to be legible. To both Harry and Daredevil these letters meant nothing, but given their location they had to mean something to someone. Logging the letters and the symbol for future reference, Harry turned to Daredevil and said "You can go attend to your duties as guardian of the weak and vulnerable now if you wish. This room and building are now both active crime scenes and I'll need to document every piece of them. You can trust me, it is my job after all."

Daredevil was skeptical, but ultimately couldn't help the situation any more than he had. "Do you want me to call the police? They'll need to question whoever it was we just fought, and investigate whatever mystery we just stumbled upon" Said Daredevil, not exactly wanting to intrust the documentation of a crime scene solely in Harry. "I'm the only police force that has the expertise to comprehend the situation that just unfolded, and this isn't their jurisdiction anyway" Harry said, already busying himself with the task of tagging and transporting the heap of magical oddments in the corner of the room.

"If you insist, but just remember, I'll be keeping an I on your movements." Said Daredevil "I like you Harry, but there's a lot I don't yet understand and much I probably never will. Next time we fight organised crime together, how about you explain to me whatever witchcraft is at play before I find myself embroiled in it. Deal?"

"Let's skip the crime fighting, and just get drinks" Harry said with a grin "Now go away and defend your precious Hell's Kitchen."

As Daredevil left, Harry took out one of his business cards and blew on it. Propelled by the magical glow Harry's breath had imbued it with, the card floated into Daredevil's hand. "Just tear the card if you ever need my help and I'll be there before you can say quidditch."

Daredevil left with a smile on his face. Half of the nonsense Harry spouted made not a lick of sense to Daredevil, but it sounded genuine. He hoped he'd see Harry again, maybe over a bit of light crime fighting or those drinks Harry mentioned. With a flick of his extendable club, Daredevil launched himself out of the window and onto the sprawling rooftops he had come to inhabit so frequently.

Apparently fighting crime was more thrilling than Harry thought. At least it was when he had company. Even though he didn't look forward to processing 8 criminal suspects, he certainly didn't mind the promise of further encounters with his devilish friend. Putting these thoughts out of his mind, Harry got to work. He knocked out the man, who's name he now knew to be Stan, and restrained him and everyone else they'd done battle with. With a wave of his wand, the 8 criminals and a colourful array of magical artefacts were transported to his New York office. One sloppy apparation later and Harry himself was whisked away to the BMA's offices where he once again sought refuge in the pillowy embrace of his leather armchair. What a day Harry had had, now all he needed was a defence attorney.


	4. Trial and Tribulation

The offices of the BMA were a patchwork quilt of facilities. In the centre lay Harry's office, the walls were lined with wizarding portraits, the inhabitants of which always had advice to offer Harry, whose desk stood prominently in the middle, littered with trinkets, while a large multicoloured clock tracked the magical activity in the city. The room across the hall was dedicated to dangerous experimentation and was stuffed with all sorts of devices each of them emitting peculiar puffs of colourful smoke. Another was occupied by the archives Harry had been developing over the years: filing cabinets had been magically extended and went on for hundreds of kilometres, each of them stretching endlessly into a magical void. While Harry didn't often use this room, the artefact vault was brimming with magical objects which did everything from shrinking city blocks to transfiguring people into penguins. The two final rooms were Harry's favourites: the court room and the jail cells. Here was where the true magic of the BMA took place. In the court room Harry could make legally binding judgements (an activity that often filled him with a resounding sense of resolution) and in the jail cells he liked to eat his lunchtime meal on the other side of the bars while in between bites telling his captives about the long and boring history of the items they stole. It was truly a magical place. As Harry jiggled his leg in anticipation at his desk, he ignored the bursts of advice raining down from the portraits above ("Just suck out their souls, it worked when I was in charge!"), and considered the type of man the defence attorney he had enlisted would be. Harry had tracked down the scummiest offices he could find, offices which happened to be in Hell's Kitchen, and employed the first person that looked to be a member of the legal profession: Matthew Murdock. An amateur attorney, fresh from law school and the internship that followed, who was now in the employ of the Bureau of Magical Affairs. While Harry was sure that if he conducted a more thorough search of the city, he could have found an even more incompetent defence attorney for the magical miscreants currently stewing in the BMA's holding cells, he couldn't bring himself to waste any further time on concluding the seemingly endless task of securing the world's magical artefacts and locations. Harry, lost in thought, failed to notice someone entering the offices and planting themselves in front of his desk with purpose. Thinking that he may have chickpea soup today, Harry got out of his chair and went to exit his office only to walk into something. Seeming as Harry had been resting his eyes, he did not see the boy in front of his desk and as a result Harry jumped back in fright, disrupting Walter the Wise from his midday portrait nap.

"Who the hell are you!?" Harry said indignantly, having never seen a voluntary visitor to the BMA's offices.

"I'm here answering the ad. The one in the newspaper, the one which asked for a 'competent quill user' with a 'basic understanding of magical law'. I didn't really understand the magical part, but I'm currently in law school and I did 3 months of medieval calligraphy at my community college". The strange man said. Harry had completely forgotten about the ad he'd placed in the local newspaper. In all honesty, he didn't think he could find someone with such specific characteristics, but here before him was a boy who appeared to believe he was perfect for the position.

"My name's Gabriel Garnets. Here's my resume." Gabriel said, thrusting a sheet of paper into Harry's hands:

"Name: Gabriel Garnets, Age: 20, Past Experience: Played the role of the emperors rescuer in a local production of Agamotto's Folly and previously acted as an administrative assistant to a legal firm, Favourite Colour: Purple"

The resume Harry held in his hands was undoubtedly horrendous. He didn't see what relevance the boy's past acting experience had to the role, but the unusual quality of the resume was appealing to Harry. He needed someone who wouldn't shy away from the strange and mysterious.

"Would you describe yourself as someone who boldly embraces the strange and mysterious" Harry inquired, getting up from his chair and swishing his robes for effect.

"Well, I've read every fantasy novel in the New York Public Library, so I'd say I'm reasonably familiar with the the bizarre and baffling" Gabriel responded, brazen pride being conveyed with every word.

"Ah, so you've done some research. Tell me then, what is the punishment for possessing an unregistered magical artefact?"

"Magical artefact? I thought these would be questions regarding the job, not fiction." Gabriel blustered, uncertainty evident in his tone.

"Wrong! The prescribed punishment for said crime is apparation into outer space. These questions are very much about the job. That's what I do here, I enforce the laws regarding items of magical significance in my role as the only surviving member of the wizarding race. I thought you said you researched my organisation." Harry said, genuinely curious about Gabriel's apparent lack of understanding.

Gabriel stood there for a few moments, eyes darting around the room, assessing each and every object he could see: the portraits, the books struggling against their chains, and the peculiar state of dress of Harry all suggested the existence of magic.

"You're telling me that magic exists, and that you're the only one in existence capable of using it?"

"Finally, you've caught up. Yes! My name is Harry Potter, Order of Merlin, First Class, Master of Magic, and Chief of the Bureau of Magical Affairs. You can call Harry If you want." Harry said, sticking his hand out in greeting. Gabriel numbly accepted the proffered hand and allowed Harry to do the shaking for him. It appeared Gabriel understood now, as a grin crept slowly onto his lips as Harry's world of magic became apparent to him.

"Can I have the job!? It'd be a fantastic opportunity to learn about your form of wizardry." Gabriel said, his enthusiasm making him appear to be an over excited puppy, as Harry could see he was bouncing from one leg to the other.

Harry couldn't take this decision lightly. As Harry was certain many magical artefacts, buildings, plants, and animals had slipped through the cracks, he would require a reliable assistant. While Gabriel appeared perfectly normal with his decidedly unmagical wavy brown hair and frankly dull blue eyes, there was an intangible magic to him that made him familiar.

"Do you have a quill with you or will you be using your own?"

"I've got the job?! Yes! I have the job! I don't have my quill with me but I can pop back to Bleecker Street and grab it." Gabriel said, the hem of his coat fluttering in excitement, probably due to the pacing Gabriel had begun performing on Harry's polished wooden floors.

"No no, it's fine. You can use mine." Harry said, withdrawing an extravagant peacock feather quill from his varnished desk draws. It's plumage was luxurious, and the initials 'G.L.' were printed on the calamus in an indulgent gold leaf.

"You can grab some parchment from the stack. Now, write down everything that is said from now on; you'll be dictating my personal thoughts on today's trial and the proceedings themselves." Harry said, resting comfortably in his cushioned chair and adjusting his emerald and gold robes to ensure he could speak without irritation.

"On July 17th 2018, myself and an individual known as Daredevil located and arrested a number of suspects presumed to have committed offences under section 12 of the Magical Code of Conduct…"Harry droned, the information lulling the room into a stupor, only to be interrupted by the presence of a man: Matthew Murdock, attorney at law and the BMA's newest and hopefully most incompetent defence attorney.

"Ah, . I'm yet to introduce myself fully, as you said you had some urgent matters to attend to elsewhere in the city. My name is Harry Potter, Chief of Bureau of Magical Affairs." Harry said, once again extending his hand in greeting, only this time he was promptly met with another hand.

"Aren't you dazed or confused? Don't you have a thousand questions to ask and a thousand more you don't know how to ask?" Harry said, somewhat disappointed in 's indifferent attitude to information that explicitly confirms the existence of magic.

"I'm certainly surprised that a bureau exists for it's regulation, but my father was a squib so I always knew that magic existed one way or another" Matthew said, a statement which honestly surprised Harry, as he had endured many months of people having absolutely no idea about magic's existence. In Harry's view, it was very inconsiderate of the wizarding world to make themselves extinct, as now Harry had to take the time to explain to muggles simple magic truths (Somebody even once suggested to Harry that not all necklaces were cursed).

"Well, at least you're somewhat more informed than everyone else in existence. Take a seat while I dictate the rest of my report." Harry said, gesturing to the squashy armchairs lining his office, one of which was already occupied by Gabriel who was already furiously scratching away at the parchment.

"…The defence will be represented by Murdock of Nelson and Murdock, the prosecution will be represented by Potter of the BMA and the presiding judge will be Potter of the BMA." Harry said, looking towards Matthew "Are we ready to begin?"

—

Briskly walking to the cells, Harry was bombarded with a series of questions from : "How can you be the judge and the prosecution?", "What exactly is magical law?", "What's the difference between a charm and a hex?". Harry of course responded with nothing more than an icy stare, as he wanted these criminals on the next portkey to whichever prison had an availability before the defence could say quidditch(Harry had yet to establish a magical detention centre of his own).

"Things are a little different in magical law" Harry said, while unlocking the sterile metal cells and levitating the unconscious bodies of the criminals (Harry had laced their lunch meals with a sleeping solution). With a flick of his wand, they begun to eerily drift towards the court room, occasionally bumping into couches or chandeliers. "To start, conventional laws will not apply to this trial. Magical law is governed by the magical code of conduct and occasionally my personal opinions." They had reached the double doors leading into the court room, and Gabriel (as well as the levitating bodies) came to a sudden holt. The doors were beneath a golden plaque, displaying a crossed wand and gavel. This was where Harry dispensed justice. With a flick of his hands, the doors opened to reveal cavernous marble chamber. The room was circular, lined with tiered seating on the edges, not dissimilar to an amphitheatre, and in the middle were a series of shackles each of them affixed to the ground. Looming above this all and illuminated by the flickering torches in their metal brackets, was Harry's seating of choice: a raised bench and chair fronting on to the tiered seating and covered in wildly strewn documents. While Matthew, Gabriel, and the unconscious villains (if they weren't currently comatose) all took in the grandeur of the room, Harry got down to business. Swishing his wand, Harry set the accused towards the shackles to be restrained and apparated to the bench. Pulling a powdered wig out from underneath, Harry was now ready to commence the trial. "Councillor, shall we begin?".

"Um, yes…yes, I think I should be…" Matthew said, sifting through the many papers at his table with his left hand and flipping through the Magical Code of Conduct with the other.

Gabriel refilled his quill's ink and held his hand close to the parchment in preparation. "I would like to call this session of the BMA's criminal tribunal into order. 8 suspects stand accused of possession of unlicensed and hazardous magical artefacts under section 12 of the Code of Conduct, their names can be found in the court's records. The defence shall begin with an opening statement". With this, Harry revived the suspects by launching a cloud of green powder from his wand tip, which roused each of the villains on contact.

"Well, to begin…I would umm, like to…" Matthew said, flicking through the Magical Code of Conduct at a faster pace then before, making the pages blur together "I would like to invoke section 25 of the Magical Code of Conduct, I at least think that's the section."

"Do you now?" Harry said, irritation dripping from every syllable. While being both judge and prosecution allowed Harry to achieve guilty convictions for almost all suspects, that didn't mean the process wouldn't drag on for days upon end.

"You do realise that section 25 will delay this trial for another two weeks?" Harry said, hoping to appeal to 's sympathetic side while wondering how in the world he was so foolish as to employ the services of a competent legal professional.

"Oh, I thought section 25 allowed for me to…yes, yes, that is the section I wanted to invoke. Absolutely" Matthew said, stumbling over his words as much as he stumbled over the structure of the Magical Code of Conduct (or the MCC).

From high above, Harry massaged his temples intent on relieving the months of built up strain. "Let me offer you a compromise, if I agree to impose only a reasonable fine and magically track each of them for a maximum of 12 months, can we proceed with the trial?"

"Could we reduce it to 11 months…you know what, 12 sounds just fantastic." Matthew said, not wanting to test his luck.

Seeing that the suspects had come to their senses, Harry decided to investigate as he felt obligated to find out who was behind this mysterious O.V.V. "Why did you take those artefacts?" Harry inquired.

Still a little drowsy, one of the thugs replied "We were just following orders, the man at the top says he wants some trinkets from an unguarded museum, so we get him them".

"Who is the man at the top then?" Harry asked, feeling as if he was finally getting somewhere.

"We cant tell you. He has powers, powers that would make you shiver in dread. We never saw him anyway."

"Don't worry, you'll be perfectly safe in my care. I can find you a new identity in an instant, so if you would sit still for a moment that would be most appreciated." Harry said, preparing himself for the mentally distressing experience of entering another's mind.

"What are you doing?" Matthew said, oblivious to the meaning of Harry's words.

"Cant you see, I'm going to perform legillimency on him. That way, he hasn't breached this man's trust and I can get the information I require." Harry said, doing some problem solving in his head in preparation.

"I'm blind, so of course I can't see what you're doing. Didn't the glasses and cane give it away?" Matthew said, surprised by Harry's ignorance.

"Oh, I guess I'm used to people wearing unusual outfits." Harry said, jabbing his wand at the man in the middle followed by an incantation: "Legilimens!"

*** Harry found himself surrounded my a misty structure and bombarded by snippets of sounds and sights. He was in the mindscape of Kevin O'Connor. The walls were lined with doors, each of them labelled: Childhood Memories, Hopes and Aspirations, Where I Left My Keys, and That Delicious Recipe for Creme Brûlée. A thousand more doors stretched down endlessly into the distance, each of them with their own specific purpose. Harry consulted the directory on the wall. Apparently, Dark Secrets and Classified Information could be found on level 3764. With this information Harry glided over to the elevator, got in and pushed the appropriate button. While it took a significant amount of time for the elevator to travel to floor 3764, his journey was made more pleasant by the soothing music emanating from the walls. DING! The elevator had stopped, and Harry, putting an old Daily Prophet crossword back into the folds of his robes, stepped out onto the misty platform. Harry began to check each door for the correct label and continued this for hours, finally reaching Dark Secrets and Classified Information: two seperate doors at the end of the initially infinite corridor. Harry, taking a chance on Classified Information, cautiously opened the hazy door. What lay beyond was a minuscule room cottoning a single folder of information which hovered in the centre of the room. Seeing this, Harry snatched it from the air and began to peruse the information inside only to be feel a pull at the back of his neck as he plunged violently into the memory itself. Harry was assaulted by an array of images which he witnessed in a fraction a second: an abandoned fortress, a room littered with magical artefacts, and a horned man, dressed in green and gold. "Loki." ***

With a jolt, Harry stumbled back into his mind 10 seconds after he entered Kevin's. "This isn't good, this isn't good at all." Harry muttered to him self, while pacing the length of the court room. "What did you see?" Said Matthew, "Who did you see?" Said Gabriel.

"Neither of you would understand. This man, this god, is an ancient enemy of wizarding kind. I should act now, I need to formulate a plan, maybe I could…" Harry trailed off, lost in his own thoughts.

"He said he was taking a short break from villainy on earth, if that's of any use." One of the other thugs said. "Well thanks for telling me this now!" Harry shouted, furious that he'd been panicking more than he should have.

"You will all be fined 1/64th of your soul and magical tracking devices have been affixed to your person. Thank you for participating in the magical justice system, I hope you had a pleasant experience." Harry said, snapping his fingers which opened up 8 holes in the ground through which all 8 of them slid down head first towards the ejection tube he had installed out the back a few weeks ago.

" , you proved to be more savvy than I first thought, so I will not be consulting you for further trials. Your compensation will be sent via our flamingo parcel delivery system in three to five days. I'm sure you know the way out. Gabriel, stay behind, we have some work to do." Harry said in a cyclonic manner, each word nipping at the heels of the one in front. Seeing that was going to protect, Harry snapped his finger once more which animated two top hatted tuxedo's in the corner of the room, both of which lumbered over to Matthew as if lead their by a set of invisible puppeteering strings. They dragged him out of the room and presumably through the front door. "Gabriel, follow me".

Harry and Gabriel sped to Harry's office and for the next two hours, Harry spit balled nearly a thousand possible responses: "Is the Loch Ness monster available for hire, or has she retired?", "I haven't performed a dark ritual in a while, but I'm quite handy at drawing pentagrams", and "I hope he doesn't have a horcrux, let alone 7" were all uttered with varying degrees of seriousness.

After 23 sheets of parchment and 15 ink refills, Gabriel asked him a question. "Does the world know about magic?" Gabriel said hesitantly. "Maybe it would be good to tell them?"

"You know what, I guess I could. There's not exactly statute of secrecy stopping me." Harry said, genuinely considering the idea of informing planet earth of his official existence. While after the wizarding world was extinguished, Harry hadn't been subtle, he was yet to make his role known to muggles. "Let's do it now. We can draft a statement and I'll hold press conference tomorrow, Merlin knows I need all the help I can get."

That evening, after Gabriel had gone home and the press release had been drafted, Harry had a fitful sleep. Images of Loki laughing maniacally dominated his dreams and when he wasn't face to face with the ancient god, he saw truly ludicrous things: Gabriel was peeling the skin of an orange to reveal blue and red fruit within and the thugs he had just washed his hands of were all doing the can-can while singing "You're doomed!" in a sing song tune. Maybe Harry was doomed, but it wouldn't be because a bunch of dancing criminals said so.


	5. Announcements and Agitations

"People of planet Earth. I speak to you as a representative and chief of the Bureau of Magical Affairs when I say that magic is very much real. It has been an feature of our world for millennia and will hopefully continue to play a role in planet Earth's existence. Previously this information has been kept from you, as a result of the International Statute of Secrecy. After a tragic incident which claimed the lives of the wizarding world though, I, Harry Potter, am the only remaining wizard in existence. The BMA's role, under my leadership, is to enforce rules and regulations surrounding the use of magical artefacts and to act as a barrier between the general public and the potentially destructive forces of magic. Usual caution should be exercised and all magical sightings should be reported to the BMA via our 24 hour information hotline. I look forward to working with you all in future and I wish you all a pleasant day.

Kind Regards,

Harry Potter (Chief of the BMA, Order of Merlin, First Class, and Master of Magic)"

"The statement in question miraculously appeared this morning in every television studio across the world, and while the claims of are yet to be verified, anonymous sources at the United Nations suggest that is accurate in his account." Said a reporter for CNN, her voice raining down upon Harry, uncomfortably sat on a leather couch. That morning Harry had released a statement revealing magic's existence to all. At this point Harry slightly regretted it, not because there was a mob of pitchfork wielding pilgrims calling for his immediate execution, no, it was due to the fact that he was about to appear on one of the morning shows to verify and clarify his statement. He was sitting in the green room of NBC's Today, pacing from one end of the room to the other completely ignoring the platter of pastries on the central table. " we're on in 5, could you follow me?" Said one of the interns, popping her head into the room in the process. "Yes, yes..I'm good and I am ready, and I will follow you…yes." Harry said hesitantly, trying to convince himself in the process. As he walked down the bland creamy corridors of NBC's New York studios, Harry considered what he would be asked. Would they be hostile? Would they be amazed? Would they be disbelieving? He didn't really know which one would be better. While he was the master of death and the most powerful wizard alive (emphasis on 'alive'), he despised public appearances particularly ones where he had to prove something, and this appearance required for him to prove a lot. If Harry was honest with himself, he wouldn't believe his claims if he was simply a member of the general public. He too, would be quizzing him from every possible angle, and doubting every answer given in return. Harry had now entered the Today show's studio, which was covered in glaring lights and swarming with employees, all of whom were striding back and fourth between stations, double and triple checking every aspect of the studio's operation. Going to sit down on the painfully orange couch of the program, Harry was ambushed by the show's presenter. "Hi, hello, pleasure to meet you. Jane Trigaletto, though you're probably familiar with my work. Now take a seat, don't worry about the program, and just be yourself. This is just a human interest story, and we'll be nothing but gentle in our investigation." She said, the words launching from her mouth at break neck speed. Harry stiffly nodded in return, now more stressed than he was before . The producer started counting down to air: 3, 2, 1.

"Fraud, Freak, or Fiction? The deceptive deviant Harry 'The Liar' Potter, self-proclaimed Chief of the Bureau of Magical Affairs and wizard, joins us on the show this morning to spread more of his twisted lies." Jane said venomously "Harry how are you, welcome to the show."

"…Hello Jane, I don't know how I feel about my introduction, but I am looking forward to clarifying some details of my statement." Harry said, repressing the supreme irritation over Jane's skepticism.

"So Harry, why do you feel compelled to mislead the general public? Are you lonely? Are you trying to impress a special someone? Or is it money that motivates these manoeuvres? Also, while were at it what do you do in your spare time? Do ya have a hobby, maybe a personal interest?" Jane said, the tone of her statement jumping from foul to friendly without warning.

"First off, let me make something perfectly clear." Harry said, having found his courage in Jane's baseless accusations "I'm doing this for no reason other than to protect the people of planet earth. I didn't have to announce my presence, I was perfectly happy guarding the mundane from the magical alone and without recognition. I made this announcement because it is the truth. I don't want a book deal or a radio show, I simply think that you all deserve to know the facts."

"Wow, powerful words from a powerful person. But you failed to answer one simple question: what do you do in your spare time?" Jane said, seriously and with an impossibly large smile stretching across her face.

"I…I, enjoy gardening." He said with a sigh. "Don't you want to see me pull a rabbit out of a hat or something? Cause I brought both."

"I'm sorry but that's all we've got time for. Next up, we meet a horse that can sing while blindfolded. Stay tuned and get your phones at the ready, as Buttercup will be taking questions." Jane said to the camera, giving a mock salute as her signature sign off.

"What was that?! I spent more time talking about gardening than I did about my actual role." Harry whispered furiously to Jane.

"Do you know how hard it is to book Buttercup? We had to fly in organic, high fibre hay from Sweden just to have a shot." Jane said, also whispering and equally furious but severely limited by the hair and makeup team buzzing around her.

"No! I will not be shunted aside by some talentless horse! I am a wizard! A wizard! Doesn't that interest anyone?" Harry screamed at the top of his lungs.

The room was silent. Everyone had stopped work and you could almost hear the pitter patter of rain through the many meters of sound proofing. Ring ring! There was a caller on line one.

"Hello caller, you've reached the Today show. Have you got a question for Buttercup?" Jane said, brushing off the tense silence of the past few moments.

"Uh, hi. I've actually got a question for that other guy, the one who isn't a horse."

"Ah, yes, . He's sitting here with me, go ahead caller."

"When you say gardening do you mean vegetables or flowers?"

Harry sighed. Of course he meant vegetables.

—-—

Apart from his disastrous TV appearance, Harry's grand reveal had gone rather well. There was now a large bank of phones, all of which were staffed by the worlds few remaining house elves, sitting in the centre of the BMA's offices. Every second a new person called the information hotline (1800 MAGIC) with everything from queries to requests. It turned out that the worlds disinterest in magic was limited to the Today show and it's viewers, as everyone who called seemed genuinely interested in Harry's work. He'd even made Gabriel the BMA's official muggle liaison, which meant he gave out educational pamphlets to anyone who asked. This hadn't left much time for him to think about the Loki situation, but he had established some basic magical defences around the city just in case a large scale planetary invasion happened to catch Loki's fancy.

One message not received by telephone, but instead through the mail had particularly moved Harry. It was a simple message, neatly done in pen, from a kid named Peter living in Queens. It was a only a sentence, but it said far more: Why don't you become a superhero?

He had considered it before. With the Statute of Secrecy obsolete and having a good grasp of combat magic, Harry could probably make a meaningful difference. But did New York need anymore superheroes? Should he defend New York, or should one of the other 50 states of America and their respective capital cities receive some superpowered protection? Running his hands over his emerald and gold robes, given to him by a magical Japanese tailor named Tera, he considered his options. He was more than equipped to fight crime (both magical and muggle) and this could be a perfect opportunity to prove himself to the city and to the world. Not to mention he might come across Daredevil during one of his evening outings.

"Gabriel!" Harry shouted, looking for his assistant. He came sprinting out of the archive room.

"What is it? I had almost finished alphabetising 10 kilometres of the Criminal Profiles filing cabinet."

"If I wanted to, hypothetically, fight crime, where would I find the most?" Harry said evasively.

"Maybe the Meatpacking District? Are you looking for magical crime or mundane? Cause an old woman just called from Sutton Place saying that her cuckoo clock keeps launching minute hands at her."

"No, normal crime seems like a refreshing change. But make sure you do deal with the cuckoo clock. Grab one of the medium strength magical suppression bands and feel free to use one of the flying carpets, just pull on the tassel twice to get it going." Harry said, still neck deep in thought. Gabriel began to walk back to the archive room, but Harry had one last question for him.

"What should I be called? Hypothetically."

" is of course taken. Enchantress as well. Magician seems a tad childish, as does wizard." Gabriel said pensively, chewing the end of his quill.

"The Minister of Magic?"


	6. SHIELD and Sorcery

Harry was on the roof of the BMA's headquarters. The wind gusted across the open air garden, ruffling Harry's robes. He had converted the rooftop into a greenhouse of sorts, and while it was an amateur attempt at Herbology, it allowed him the means to continue making potions. As the magically automated harp in the corner strummed a soothing melody, Harry mounted his broomstick with both feet and sped off into the inky black darkness of the night sky. Harry hadn't flown in sometime, but his Cosmic Charger was the broom to do it with. He sped through the skyline of New York, weaving between office blocks and cell phone towers, narrowly skirting around their edges and only just managing to avoid the shiny red and gold streak that zoomed past him. His gold and emerald robes swept behind him, as he plunged down into the Meatpacking District at the broom's top speed of 170km/h. He had waited until midnight to make his first move as an aspiring superhero, thinking that the glossy sheen of his robe's would look best in the pale moonlight of the evening. Harry spiralled down into a darkened alleyway and dismounted from his broom, shrinking it and popping it into his magically extended robe pockets. Harry now stood there, surrounded by dumpsters and chain link fences, pondering his next move. He hadn't really given much though on how one fights crime, or acquires the title of superhero, he had assumed it would all come to him once he was in the moment. Not particularly interested in wandering the streets until trouble found him, Harry decided to adopt a more active approach. Reaching into his pockets, he began to rummage around for his Sneakoscope. After finding some wrapped toffees and a few broken quills, Harry got his hands on what he thought was his competitive advantage. Many years ago, Harry had accidentally sat on his own Sneakoscope, while his wand was in his back pocket, and almost crushed it. Instead of destroying it, Harry had accidentally improved it. It now pointed it's user to wherever suspicious activity was occurring in a 10km radius. It was already whirring violently in his hand, pointing out of the alleyway and into the streets. Harry strolled out, in a casual yet prepared fashion, onto the exposed brick facade lined pavement of the meatpacking district. His Sneakoscope lunged across the street, dragging him with it, and towards a run down warehouse. While Harry wasn't one to judge something by it's appearance, warehouses were almost always a hotbed of criminal activity. His Sneakoscope dinged to indicate that he had arrived at his destination, and with this Harry stowed it in his pockets once more. Withdrawing his wand from within the folds of his robes, Harry unlocked the door with a whispered "Alohomora". Pushing it open, Harry stepped into a vast indoor space. Quickly retrieving and throwing his invisibility cloak over him, Harry walked towards the scene playing out in the centre of the room: one man was tied up on a wooden chair, while two others paced around him asking questions in thick German accents. "Vere is zee tesseract?" One of them said, angling a nearby lamp so it shone directly in the other man's eyes. "I don't know…they never told me where they were taking it, I just know they found it. Don't hurt me!" The man screamed, sobbing uncontrollably in the process. They seemed to be after an object called the Tesseract. Harry had heard stories during his travels to Scandinavia of the Tesseract. It was apparently an object of great power, gifted to the wizarding village of Tønsberg by the Norse gods. The wizarding world, to Harry's surprise, was fervently religious. Wizards and witches didn't follow any of the contemporary faiths practised by muggles, instead they had their own deities. Druidry and Paganism were widely practised through the British isles, with some families presenting ritual offerings every week. For Harry, belief in magic was enough for him, but that didn't mean he didn't have faith in the stories of the Tesseract. It most certainly existed, but from what he read, Grindelwald and his muggle associates had taken it during the First Wizarding War. Where it was now, no one knew. Harry had seen enough though, pulling off his invisibility cloak he swiped his wand in front of him in one fluid motion. A blue wave of energy shot out from the end of his wand and pulsated, causing all three men to slump to the ground. The lights in the warehouse had all shattered from the magical energy Harry had just exuded, so twirling his wand Harry launched an array of coloured lights into the darkness, giving the warehouse an ethereal glow. He first revived the man tied up on the chair, and cut his bonds. "Thank you so much! I owe you my life." The man said, hugging Harry while doing so.

"It's quite alright, you're really the first person I've officially saved, as a superhero that is" Harry said, a little embarrassed that he was being showered with so much praise.

"Well, you were great." The man said, massaging his wrists.

"Yes, um, thanks…Now go fourth and be free. And if anyone asks, you were saved by the Minister of Magic AKA Harry Potter, the guy from the television. I'm hoping the name will catch on." Harry said, and after another moment or two of thanks, Harry turned to the two villains unconscious on the concrete floor. "Enervate." Harry said, twisting his wand at the two men who Harry had bound with ropes earlier. They woke up slowly, groggily peering around, trying to process the situation they had found themselves in. "Who are you?" The apparent leader said blearily, turning his head with curiosity.

"I am the Minister of Magic. Of, not for, and magic is with one M" Harry said, emphasising his new name "But enough about me, you two seem very interested in an object called the Tesseract. Why are you searching for it?"

They looked at each other as if they were trying to communicate through winks, mouth movements, and the angle of their heads alone. Harry, in an attempt to encourage some honesty, produced a crackling ball of electricity at the end of his wand. Moving it before their eyes, Harry asked again: "Why are you searching for the Tesseract?"

Both of them began to visibly sweat, while the leader of the two looked at the other shaking his menacingly. After a few more moments of intimidation, the younger of the two cracked. "Ok! Ve vork for an organization called HYDRA. Zey vant to retrieve in order to create veapons beyond human comprehension. Don't tell SHIELD! Our years of infiltration vould become meaningless."

"I'll make sure to tell the authorities you were very cooperative." Harry said sarcastically, considering what to do next. He couldn't exactly let them go, what with them knowing about a powerful magical artefact. Harry settled on obliviation as the most humane solution to his problem. Not exactly being skilled in precise memory magic, he settled for the next best thing. Pulling two sachets from his robe pockets, Harry transfigured two loose bits of rock into glasses and filled them both with water. Tearing open the sachets he poured one into each glass and mixed them around with his wand. Swiping his wand at the two HYDRA operatives (his wand was still wet from stirring at this point), he cut the ropes around their hands, but applied a sticking charm to their feet. "Drink this. It'll help with the grogginess." Harry said, handing each of them a glass. They accepted suspiciously, but began to sip. After a few gulps of the substance, there was a bright white flash, and a look of vacant bliss on their faces. Magic Magda's Memory Modification Mixture worked every time. Harry had wiped all knowledge of the Tesseract from their minds, along with their identities as HYDRA agents. Instead, they were now colleagues who worked at a gardening magazine and, on their way to a trendy new bar in the city, had gotten lost due to their poor sense of direction. Knowing that the pair were no longer any harm (as both were examining their hands as if they had miraculously appeared at the ends of arms), Harry began to exit the building. As he approached the door, frenzied chaos ensued. A SHIELD team swung through the windows lining the upper half of the street side wall, agents began pouring through the door, and through laser cut entrances in the ceiling, SHIELD operatives began to fall down to the ground only to be stopped by the pulley system regulating their descent. Harry was surrounded. He could always apparate back to his offices in an instant, but in many ways Harry considered himself on the same side as SHIELD.

"Hello!" Harry said cheerily to the agents swarming around him. None responded as they continued to sweep the building. Four agents approached him with their guns raised.

"Sir, get down on the ground and allow yourself to be re strained" Said one of the agents as they got closer.

"No, no, no! I'm a good guy. A superhero. One of you. If I can just speak to your commanding officer, I can hand over any information you need on the two gentleman behind me." Harry said, hoping to calm the situation down. At the time Harry said this, the two ex HYDRA agents were walking into a metal pillar repeatedly, still getting used to the idea of solid objects. They continued to approach repeating their request while doing so. He thought he was going to have to employ defensive measures, but instead two figures walked into the warehouse. "Stand down Ward." Said the woman, eyeing Harry suspiciously.

"Hi! The name's Harry." He said, but getting no reaction he decided to be more specific. "Chief of the Bureau of Magical Affairs. Last surviving wizard…the guy who was on television the other day?"

"We know who you are ." Said the man, gaudily dressed in red, white and blue, with a star emblazoned on his chest. "Could you put the stick down?"

"First off, lovely to meet you. Second, it's a wand not a stick. And third, my superhero name is now the Minister of Magic. I hear SHIELD is closely involved with most superheroes operating in the United States, so I thought I'd just give you a heads up." Harry said, somewhat perturbed by his glorious wand being referred to as a stick.

"Cap, Black Widow, we found them." Said one of the agents from the other end of the building. "They're acting a bit loopy."

"What did you do to them ?" Said Black Widow.

"Ohhh, that. I just wiped their memories of anything pertinent to my current investigation into a powerful magical artefact."

He walked over to the two men with the rest of the division, his presence seemingly now tolerated. "I think you did a bit more than that." Said Captain America

"Not much more. They do now think they work for a gardening magazine, but that's how I have my fun."

"Did they tell you anything?" Said Black Widow

"They told me enough to go on with. You see, I'm looking for an object called the Tesseract. It's very precious to the wizards of Scandinavia, and while they may no longer exist, I'd love to have it myself just for safe keeping"

Cap and Black Widow looked at each other uneasily, unsure how to proceed.

"They actually mentioned that you and your organisation might know of it's location" Harry said pointedly, in an effort to get some solid answers.

"You're gonna have to come with us." Said Black Widow, directing the SHIELD agents out of the building.

Following them outside, his robes were almost blown off of him by the rapidly spinning rotors on the aircraft outside. The Quinjet was sitting on an impromptu landing pad, surrounded by black SUVs which agents were pouring into. "You're with us." Shouted Black Widow from the ramp of the Quinjet.

Walking up the ramp and into the jet, Harry sat down and strapped himself in. With an upward motion, the Quinjet took flight. It wasn't exactly a broom stick, but Harry enjoyed flight in any form.

"Are you a mutant?" Said Black Widow bluntly, from the seats across from him.

"Of course I'm not a mutant, do you see tentacles bursting fourth from my skin? No. I'm a wizard." Harry said heatedly

"What do you mean you're a wizard? Cause everyone at SHIELD has been trying to figure out what exactly that means" Captain America said quite candidly.

"I'm the Merlin type of wizard. I cast spells, I fly broom sticks, I brew potions. I don't understand why this has been so difficult for everyone to understand."

Everyone in the Quinjet looked highly suspicious at this claim, with the usually aloof Black Widow appearing disbelieving.

Harry reached within his robes for his wand, only for everyone to withdraw their guns and point them at him. "I'm just getting my wand." The guns did not go away. "I'll do it wandlessly then! For gods sake, you lot are paranoid."

Cracking his knuckles, Harry cupped his hands and breathed onto the centre of his joined palms. A fire burst to life, crackling harmlessly in his hands. There wasn't any audible gasping, but Harry could tell he had impressed upon those present that he wasn't some deranged madman with delusions of grandeur. He was a wizard.

"So where exactly are you taking me?" Harry inquired, patting the flame on his robes in order to put it out.

"The Joint Dark Energy Mission Facility." Black widow replied.

"Which is where?"

"It's where Project PEGASUS conducts it research."

"You still haven't given me a location."

"And you won't be getting one." Said Black Widow with a note of finality.

After some time, the aircraft began to descend, and Harry looked out of the glass panels lining the walls to see a sprawling complex. Buildings of all shapes and sizes stretched out across a large expanse of desert. Personnel buzzed around in jeeps and on foot, while orders and commands blasted from the speaker system.

The Quinjet landed on the designated platform and Harry was led out and towards the largest building in the facility.

They walked in silence, travelling deeper and deeper into the building. It was a labyrinth: countless doors, lining countless walls, accompanied by hundreds of stair cases and an unfathomable number of twists and turns. As they got closer to their destination, Harry felt a magical presence. It felt ancient, ancient and alive. Stepping into the testing laboratory, Harry now knew why. The Tesseract was here. Laying in the centre of the room, affixed to a metal contraption and surrounded by scientists, each of them prodding and poking it with a different instrument.

"Good god. You have it." Said Harry, awe in his voice and in his mind. He began to approach, before being stopped by two muscular agents.

"I see you've had a peek at our latest project." Said a voice from the shadows. Stepping out, a man in a black trench coat and eyepatch revealed himself to be the origin. "Nick Fury." He said, extending an arm "it's good to finally put a face to your particular brand of chaos."

"While it is a pleasure to finally meet you as well, I'm still confused as to why I'm here" Harry said, looking around the room at the numerous scientists going from station to station "It seems as if you've already got enough experts in your employment."

"But none of them have expertise in your particular field." Fury said, looking at Harry dead on "Magic, is something we lack at SHEILD."

"And you want me to what? Harness the energy of the Tesseract for you? Why don't I just hand over the deathly hallows and the infinity stones while I'm at it." He said tersely "The Tesseract should, nay must, remain dormant. While I don't expect you to know of it, there is a prophecy. One which foretells the universe's undoing."

"I've never put much faith in tarot cards or crystal balls. I put my faith in what I know is to come. One day a norse god falls from the sky, and soon enough, less friendly aliens will do the same." Fury said, now closer to Harry and speaking with an imploring tone "Surely you see that we need some form of higher protection?"

Was Harry enough to protect planet earth? He knew that there were powers in the universe that far exceeded his own, in comparison to them, Loki was barely a threat. Could the Tesseract ensure the world's safety when he couldn't?

"What exactly are you asking here Director?" Harry mumbled cautiously.

"Nothing more than enlightenment." He said vaguely, glossing over any specifics.

Harry approached the Tesseract once more, this time being allowed to proceed to the object itself, and set to work. "First of all, I don't know a lick of science, but I can say with confidence that this harness mechanism needs a hell of a lot more Nordic runes"

Harry set about discussing with , a delightful Norwegian astrophysicist, the correct way to channel energy from an ancient magical artefact. Personally, Harry was surprised he didn't know already. After chatting a bit to Black Widow and the Captain, Harry went about constructing an invisible magical barrier around the Tesseract itself to ensure no-one could pass through with sinister intent. As he was etching runes into the floor, Harry considered the prophecy he had just blatantly disregarded. He had only heard of it in passing, and on further reading he had previously discovered that the prophecy was questionable at best. It was said by an uncertified seer in a Norwegian tavern, and recorded by two illiterate reindeer farmers. Even then, the word Tesseract could have been a translation error, with the prophecy potentially referring to a tennis racket instead. All in all, this prophecy was no more legitimate than any of Professor Trelawney's repeatedly grim tea leaf interpretations.

"Thank you for your assistance ." Said Fury, happily surveying the improvements "I'll officially remove you from our organisation's threat observation index."

"Nice to know I was considered hazardous enough to find myself on the index to being with" Harry said sarcastically "Now, the Tesseract will require 6 months to replenish it's energy reserves. It needs to draw upon the ambient magic of the natural world. When 6 months has passed, you are to only use it for non-military research purposes. You can reach me on this number if you have any problems" Harry said, handing Fury his business card. It read:

"The Master of Magic lies but a few words away. Say but his name and you need not say."

"A rhyming couplet?" Fury asked skeptically

"It's the most magical use of the English language I could think of" Harry said defensively "Anyway, I must be off. Meeting with my colleagues in the defence department at 10. , Natasha, Steve, it's been a pleasure."

Harry twisted on his heel, and with a parting crack he disappeared.


	7. Parks and Personas

Harry was sound asleep, enveloped in his kneazle fur blankets and cushioned by his hippogriff feather stuffed pillows. On the top floor of the BMA's offices was Harry's home. His bedroom was decorated in rich greens and golds, with his library, study, and living space being similarly coloured. That night he dreamt of many things, not all of them good. While a significant portion of his dream was comprised of nifflers and cauldron cakes, so was there more ominous elements: a red headed woman surrounded by clay ceramics, a manically laughing Loki, and an angel donning a red and blue cloak. These images came all at once, disjointed and contorted, flooding Harry's mind with confusion. This was particularly irritating as Harry's dream about nifflers had been becoming cuter by the second. Crack! Thunder struck outside and awoke Harry with a jolt. The bolt of lightning had illuminated a figure perched on Harry's window sill: a man in crimson padded armour sat there, watching Harry from his elevated position.

"Good god!" Harry said with alarm "I have a door you know, and whats more my office hours are between 9 and 5. I think 3am falls well beyond those parameters."

"This is urgent" Said Daredevil gruffly "Something's brewing in the city, something magical. I need your help."

"What kind of magic? It better not be Tesseract magic, or so help me I will go marching into SHIELD's offices this very moment." Harry said heatedly

"Too much to explain now, meet me in Central Park at 10 am tomorrow." He said, turning as if to drop from Harry's window.

"Just a second!" Harry almost shouted "If we're meeting at 10 in morning, won't your choice of wardrobe be somewhat problematic?"

"I do have a life beyond my nocturnal adventures you know." Daredevil said cheekily "We've met before actually. I'll find you tomorrow rather than reveal my identity now, just for the sake of theatricality.". With this, Daredevil launched one end of his extendable baton into the darkness and swung out of sight.

Harry hoped that hadn't been one very detailed dream, or he'd be away from his precious office and in a crowded park for no reason whatsoever in a days time.

—

When Harry woke up that next morning, he leapt out of bed and into action. Pulling on his robes after a quick shower, he made his way downstairs and into the main office. Harry loved the office. There was something so comforting about the scent of ink drowned approval stamps, the piercing ring of the BMA's many phones, and the knowledge that this was his domain. Bursting through the door connecting his residence to his offices, Harry got to work.

"Gabriel!" Harry shouted "Pull on a warm coat and a good pair of gloves. We're going out!"

Gabriel came skidding round the corner with a heavy puffer jacket and some thick woollen gloves. With that, they exited the office, and ventured out into the billowing snows of the New York winter.

"Ok, what's the plan?" Gabriel asked as they were walking down the street.

"Last night I received a tip off of sorts. I was told to be at Central Park by 10." Harry said

"Oooh, mysterious. Did you get a letter? Maybe a muffled phone call?" Gabriel asked excitedly

"No, not really. It was a shade more personal."

—

"Now, this will be a good opportunity for you to get some practice in the field." Harry said to Gabriel as they walked down the crowded streets of New York.

"An important component to identifying magic is using all your available senses." Harry said, slipping into his role as the all knowing Master of Magic "The one thing which always gives magic away to the trained eye is oddness."

"What do you mean by oddness?" Inquired Gabriel

"It's not something which can be defined." Harry said exhaustedly, as he'd attempted to explain this notion before "You'll know it when you see it. In every muggle is a biological fear of magic. Some muggles feel dizzy in magics presence, others just feel uneasy."

Gabriel scribbled down notes in his pocket book, sparing no detail in the process. Just as Harry was about to impart some further vague wisdom, they'd arrived at one of Central Park's entrances.

"Look smart Gabriel, we've got to keep our wits about us. This is unknown territory, and Daredevil said there was a magical element to his concern. If you feel dizzy or uneasy, let me know." Harry said as they strolled to the centre of the park.

Harry heard a tapping noise. An object was being dragged across the footpath, from left to right, rhythmically and consistently. He'd heard that noise before: was it the staff wielding warlocks of Warsaw, the spiked tail of one of the Hungarian Horntails smaller relatives, or perhaps it was one of the silver topped canes of Austria's magical aristocracy. Yes, it could be one of those things, apart from the fact that each and everyone of them no longer exist (except for the Austrian aristocrat, technically Harry was one through his Mother's family). A more simple explanation presented itself when Harry heard his name spoken by a very familiar voice.

"I said i'd find you." Stated one Matthew Murdock to one very bewildered Harry Potter.

"Matthew Murdock, it's been some time hasn't it." Harry said ignorantly.

"It's only been a few weeks, but more importantly I'm pleased to see you made it here."

"Ohhh, did Daredevil invite you here too? Why would he be interested in sub optimal legal advice…ahhh." Harry said, realising the reality of the situation "You…you're Daredevil?"

"What gave it away?" Matt said, chuckling.

"First of all, I thought I was attracted to you with the suit on, but now with the suit off, I'm feeling it even more." Harry said, fanning himself with his wand. "Second of all, you're…you're blind."

"I guess that's my version of magic. Being blind isn't as much of a hinderance to me." Matt said, fighting to dispell the redness forming on his cheeks.

"This is great! We can fight the forces of evil together! By day we'll be romantically involved and by night we'll be criminally involved." Harry said, drifting off into the imagined scenario he'd mentally conjured.

Matt didn't respond to Harry's less professional suggestions, but after realising Gabriel was there and introducing Matt to him as the alter ego of Daredevil, they set off towards their destination.

"Were are we actually going?" Harry said "I don't taste any magic in the air." Harry said, darting his tongue out to sample the air for the tell tale taste of the mystic arts (to Harry, magic had always tasted like honey). "Not a drop." Harry concluded.

"That's because there isn't any magic here." Matt said, as they approached a manhole on pavement surrounding the park.

"It's down here." Matt said, tapping the metal disc with his cane.

"Well, it's not the most traditional location for magic. But I guess this does give a whole new meaning to illegal practices going 'underground'." Harry said suspiciously.

"Gabriel" Harry said, turning to his assistant "I think it would be best if you went back to the office. Maybe you could pick up some pesto pasta from Pablo's Pasta-isserie for my lunch. And grab an almond croissant for yourself." Gabriel didn't need to be told twice as after some hurried goodbyes he disappeared into the crowded street.

"Shall we?" Said Matt, lugging the cover off of the manhole and offering Harry his hand

"Why of course."


	8. Cults and Kisses

After Harry had cast a muggle repelling charm around the perimeter of the opening, he and Matt began to descend into the putrid bowels of the city. The rusted ladder chafed Harry's fingers and by the time they had reached the bottom, both of them already felt as if they had a thick layer of grime covering them from head to toe.

"Which way?" Matt said, looking from one tunnel to the other.

Harry inhaled deeply and blew purposefully on the tip of his wand. Golden dust began to pour out from it and coat the room. Footprints began to manifest on the cobble floor, countless sets of them all leading to the right.

"What was that?" Matt asked, flabbergasted by the golden dust still clinging to the walls.

"Magic." Harry said bluntly

"Are you planning on using that as an explanation for every question?" "Probably."

They set off through the tunnel on the right hand side, with their way lit by the ghostly glow of Harry's wand tip, giving the tunnels an even eerier atmosphere than they did before. After many minutes of trudging through the damp tunnels, Harry thrust his hand out in front of Matt.

"Stop." Harry said "There's something here."

Harry began to run his hands across the stone tunnel walls, while Matt looked on in amusement, realising that both of them were dressed quite formally for a romp through New York's sewers.

"Aha!" Harry said in triumph "I knew it! You're gonna have to try harder than that to fool Harry Potter."

"Care to explain?" Matt asked quizzically

"No, but I will anyway." Harry said irritably "There's a secret entrance embedded in these walls. Only now, it's no longer quite so secret."

With this vague explanation, Harry leaned against the part of the wall he'd been investigating only for his elbow to push against an oddly coloured stone. A mechanism had been activated, and with many whirs and clanks a large portion of the walls swung open to reveal a hidden chamber.

"How could you tell?" Matt asked incredulously.

"I studied concealment architecture at wizarding university. It's proven very useful."

They gingerly stepped into the flickering chamber, searching for any trace of magic.

"Revelio."

Nothing.

"Specialis Revelio."

Nothing again.

"Homenum Revelio"

To Harry's surprise, 6 glowing figures appeared in the distance. Through the passage before them, and behind a heavy door, six people appeared to be gathered for an unknown purpose.

"There's six of them. Do you have any idea what they're doing down here? You were a bit light on details earlier."

"I've heard many things. Human sacrifice, animal sacrifice, small to large explosions, and apparently a lot of chanting."

"The good kind of chanting?" Harry asked cautiously.

"No, the bad type of chanting." "Damn it! It's never the good kind of chanting."

Matt began to approach the passageway entrance, but Harry had a better idea.

"Expecto Patronum!" Harry said, as quietly as he possible could (considering how close they were to a group of potential devil worshippers.

Prongs burst fourth from his wand and galloped through the air before settling down in front of him.

"Could you please give me some warning before you summon a mystical deer?" Matt said, clutching his chest in fright.

"Prongs lives for drama. Suddenly bursting out of my wand is the only thing he really enjoys doing, apart from munching on a nice patch of dried leaves."

Harry bent down and whispered something in Prongs' ear leading him to gallop through the wall separating them from the six nut jobs 100 or so meters away.

"I've dispatched Prongs to investigate the matter more thoroughly, so for the moment we can discuss strategy." Harry said, conjuring two comfortable arm chairs, a table, and a tea set which was already hard at work.

"That still amazes me." Matt said

"What?" Harry said, trying to correct his shoddy spellwork as he had noticed the tea set was adding milk prior to adding the tea itself.

"Magic, things appearing out of thin air, glowing spirit deers."

"Oh, that. It's all a bit boring really. Once you've come back from the dead, those sorts of things tend not bother you. Ah, I almost forgot." Harry said, conjuring a golden identification badge emblazoned with the crossed wands of the BMA.

"For you. It's BMA procedure that any civilian actively working with the BMA on an open case be made an honorary member. Also I think it would be quite fun if we both burst into the room wielding our badges and telling them to freeze."

Matt clipped the badge to his jacket lapel, and Prongs came trotting back into the room. Harry bent down once more, and Matt heard a whisper of wind as the deer appeared to exhale a stream of pale blue energy into Harry's temple.

"I see." Said Harry, nodding his head pensively.

"Apparently they're summoning something with blood magic."

"Blood magic? Wouldn't that mean they were wizards, and aren't you the last one?"

"It's a funny thing blood magic. It actually doesn't require all that much magic, just a lot of blood and sacrifice. Ah!" Harry shouted "They must have gotten their hands on a magical artefact. It would only have to have a trace amount of magical energy in it to act as the ritual catalyst. As long as they have enough blood and the appropriate symbols, they could do virtually anything."

"Like what?"

"I don't know…something along the lines of SUMMONING A CREATURE OF PURE EVIL, HELL BENT ON SLAUGHTERING HUMANITY!" Screamed Harry, turning to face Matt with a jerk of his head.

"Ok, ok! Forget I asked!" Said Matt defensively

"We need to act now. To hell with strategy, we need to stop this before god knows what starts to crawl from the sulfury depths of hell."

"Let's go then."

Harry and Matt crept down the hallway, Matt's hand resting on the batons at hip and Harry's hand clutching his poised wand. They reached the door way, it was old and battered: covered in runic inscriptions and inlaid with fine metal inscriptions. It certainly didn't belong in New York's sewer system.

"Just a heads up, I suffer from haemophobia. So if you see me collapsing to the floor, do try and catch me." Harry said breathily, not looking forward to the blood most likely smeared across the floor and walls.

Harry began to mouth a countdown: 1…2…3!

"Bombarda!" Harry shouted. The doors flung off their hinges and burst into the room. 6 robed figures stood around a raised platform, upon which a summoning rune had been drawn in thick, vicious blood. They chanted at a frenzied pace, lifting their arms in worship.

"Diabolus ortum illum cornutum!" They chanted, their voices gruff from use and tainted with the power of blood magic.

"Stop in the name of the Bureau of Magical Affairs!" Harry shouted, they continued chanting unfazed by Harry's proclamation "This is an unlicensed ritual and proper safety…ugghh…precautions have not been taken!" Harry gagged a little as he saw a stream of blood dribbling down the jagged sides of the platform.

The blood from the symbol began to rise into the air. It condensed itself into a swirling pool which let of violent red sparks.

"Cease this very moment!" Harry shouted, with his back turned to the ritual.

"Immobulus!" Harry recited, unsure of where his wand was pointed but hoping he had angled it in the vague direction of the cultists.

They froze. Unable to chant or move. They had stopped the ritual, and Harry didn't faint. An overall success. With a flick of his wand, Harry conjured a set of thick red velvet curtains to encircle the platform and block the bloody remains of the ritual from his sight.

"Ok. Keep it together Harry. You are a tree in a gentle wind, swaying yet steady." Harry said, taking in deep breaths of air.

"Sorry I let things get out of hand." Harry said apologetically to Matt, annoyed that he didn't act sooner.

"It's perfectly fine. You stopped the ritual in the end, and our robed rebels seem to be frozen in place."

Harry turned to the cultists and got to work.

"Incarcerous!" Harry incanted, ropes flung from his wand and began to wrap themselves around the perpetrators, compressing them into a tightly packed group.

"Finite Incantatem!" Harry said, disabling his freezing charm from earlier.

With a final swish of his wand, their hoods flew off of their heads revealing the faces of 6 very normal looking humans.

"You don't look like cultists!" Harry said, surprised by their bland appearances. No tattoos, no pentagrams carved into their skins, not even a single amulet or chain.

"Well we are! Very important ones!" Said one in the middle.

"Matt, be a dear and hit that one with your stick."

Whack! The man was struck across the face with Matt's baton, leaving a angry graze.

"Before we proceed to the questioning phase of this arrest, allow me to read you your rights: you have the right to remain silent, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the BMA regarding any unnecessary violence perpetrated against you by an officer of the BMA, you have the right to refuse truth serum, and you have the right to the cheapest attorney in a 10km vicinity" Harry recited dully "Do you understand?"

All six of them nodded dutifully, fearing the wrath of Matt's baton. "Ok, fantabulous. Under section 48 of the Magical Code of Conduct I am suspending all aforementioned rights in the interest of national security. But my dear friend Matt will happily act as an impartial and loyal legal representative to you all."

"What was the purpose of this ritual?" Matt asked, surprising Harry by posing the first question.

They all looked at one another, unable to speak openly but evidently attempting to create some believable excuse through facial expression alone.

"We know it was a summoning ritual, but what you were trying to summon is a mystery…for the moment." Harry said innocently to the unresponsive faces of the cultists

"You do know what the maximum sentence for unlisecnced rituals is? Not to mention your use of prohibited blood magic and probably possession of a magical artefact." Harry said menacingly "It'd be harsh, wouldn't it Matt?"

"Very harsh. 10 years, 20 years, maybe even 30. If I was in your position I wouldn't wanna risk it." Matt said, picking up on Harry's strategy.

"It was nothing. It wouldn't of done anything anyway! It's just words!" Said one of them on the left hand side, sweat matting her hair.

"But they weren't just words, were they?" Harry said "They were an incantation. What was it again?"

"Diabolus ortum illum cornutum, I believe." Matt said confidently. "Diabolus, doesn't that sound a tad demonic?"

"Almost certainly. And if we're dealing with a demonic ritual, then things are looking even worse for you lot." Harry said, pointing at group who were now struggling against their bonds.

"He's coming you know." Muttered one of the cultists in the back.

"What did you say?" Harry asked

"He's coming. The ritual was successful, how could it not be when our patron lord commands so very much power!" The woman said her eyes a vibrant green and gold.

"Who's coming?" Harry demanded.

"The horned devil, the cornutum diabolus, the man of mischief." The woman raved

Harry rushed to the other side of the room, grabbing the heavy tome off of the battered table. Flicking through he found the page they'd used. Among the many symbols and rites was a rough drawing: a smirking man resplendent in an elongated horned helm.

"Loki." Harry whispered

"Who's coming?" Asked Matt, his voice laden with concern.

"A god, the norse god of mischief to be specific. His name's Loki and he's possibly one of the greatest threats to planet earth. Which is why we've got to act quickly."

"Flimsy!" Harry shouted, followed by one of his most trustworthy house elves appearing with a pop. "Take these vagabonds to the cells and for god's sake search them for any magical artefacts."

With a click of her fingers Flimsy snapped herself and the cultists away from sewers and to the safety of the BMA's headquarters.

"What do we do?" Asked Matt frantically.

Harry dispelled the red curtains and assessed the situation. The cultist was right, the ritual was active and was near to completion. Harry gagged again at the sight of the pooled blood, but made sure to turn away as soon as he possibly could.

"There's no stopping it now." Harry said bluntly "Blood magic is very tricky to disarm. The blood is simply a connection between the ritual and the body from which it originated. As long as the bodies remain alive and active, so does the ritual. And while I'm somewhat fuming with those idiots, it seems they used blood from multiple sources."

"All we can do is fight I guess?" Matt said, a smiling appearing on his face.

"You really shouldn't be happy about this. The intergalactic tabloids say that he's got a magical spear. 2 of the 5 times I've died have been due to magical spears." Harry said with some concern.

While the bloody pool became green and gold, and began to spin at frantic pace, Harry set up some rudimentary defences: wards, jinxes, charms, everything he could think of. It wouldn't hold Loki long but it would buy them some time. As he was putting the finishing touches on a biting jinx and Matt had polished his batons as much as he could, something happened. The air in the room became electrified, wind began to swirl throughout the chamber create a cyclone of activity, and the green and gold liquid in the centre of the room formed an oval shaped portal which rippled and pulsated. Harry and Matt were up against the wall, struggling against the forces of the ritual and dreading the figure who would soon step through.

The room became still. First came a leg, then an arm, then a god. Loki had crossed dimensions, universes, and whole realities to arrive at a stinking sewer in New York.

"You called?" Said Loki, smirking as he sliced through the air with his sceptre, shattering the layers of magical defences Harry had woven.

Twirling his wand, Harry launched a bolt of electricity towards Loki, only for him to split himself into two, letting his double take the hit.

"Harry, Harry, Harry. Tsk tsk, didn't I teach you better than that." Loki said patronisingly "Who's your little friend?" Loki said pointing towards Matt.

"A surprisingly good lawyer, my future boyfriend, and an amazing martial artist." Harry said "Why are you here Loki? You have no business being on earth."

"But I was summoned by my loyal followers. What was I to do? I couldn't exactly exactly ignore them. Even us gods feel guilt."

"I've had enough of your lies Loki. As Chief of the Bureau of Magical Affairs, I am placing you under arrest for trespassing on sovereign planetary territory under the terms of the 1492 treaty between the wizarding people of Earth and Asgard."

"Ahh yes, I heard you'd formed your own magical defence force. If I was an Asgardian I would be more than happy to come with you, but I am no Asgardian. I am a Jotun and as I recall the Jotuns negotiated open borders with planet Earth centuries ago."

"Loki if you teleport from this room I swear…"

With a crack and a pulse of blue energy Loki disappeared.

"We're doomed." Harry said sullenly

"Actually?" Asked Matt

"No, not really, but it's still terrible."

—

After collecting up the remaining magical materials in the room, Harry and Matt made their way out of the sewers.

"Where do you think Loki's gone?" Matt asked, a concerned frown dominating his face

"Absolutely no idea. But you can be sure that wherever he is, he's probably pursuing world domination." Harry replied, shaking his head with a sigh.

They'd reached street level, and the rain blanketing the streets of the city was just another thing to make Harry miserable.

"Thanks for coming today." Matt said, his breath warm on Harry's face as they both huddled under the translucent umbrella sprouting from the tip of Harry's wand.

"I'm always willing to help a friend." Harry whispered, resting a hand on Matt's shoulder.

"I'll let you run off back to the your offices I guess." Matt said awkwardly

He turned away from Harry and began to walk towards his offices only for Harry to grab his shoulder, spin him around and kiss him. Harry was just going to give him a peck on the cheek at first, but his anguish over Loki led to more. They dropped their umbrellas, drenching them with rain, but neither of them cared. Harry pulled back for a moment only to a catch a whiff of Matt's intoxicating scent of whiskey and oak, leading him to dive back in. Matt's lip was split from a fight he'd just had a few days ago, lending his mouth a certain metallic taste. But Harry had been starved of human intimacy for so long, and as his hands threaded themselves through Matt's damp hair, Harry realised he couldn't bear to be alone for much longer. As Matt's stubble brushed against Harry's face, he realised he'd be needing to more of this. Harry pulled away breathlessly, a genuine smile on his face.

"So…I liked that, wasn't planning on doing that today, but it happened. Don't take this the wrong way, but I do have to get back to the office. Yeah…"

"No, no, it's fine. I get it, world to save, the fate of the universe hangs in the balance. I completely understand. But, after you vanquish your foes, could we grab dinner maybe?"

A blush coloured Harry's cheeks but he nodded.

"Bye then!" Harry squeaked, turning on his heel and disappearing with a crack.

"That was nice." A goofy grin on Matt's face as the chilling downpour drenched him from head to toe.


	9. Death and Destruction

Harry appeared on the street side entrance to the BMA, very annoyed with his behaviour from a few moments ago.

"Stupid Harry! What were you thinking? You don't just leave someone after that." Harry muttered to himself

Walking into the BMA's headquarters Harry realised there wasn't anything he could do now, but as soon as this business with Loki was over, him and Matt were going to dinner!

Strolling through the doors of the office, Harry was bombarded with activity. The large multicoloured clock mounted on the wall was pointing to "Emergency" and flashing an angry red. House elves were answering countless phone calls and unable to answer countless others. All the while Gabriel was rushing around trying to contain the chaos.

"Harry!" Gabriel shouted with relief.

"Gabriel, what's happened?"

"Some magic user calling himself Loki is hopping from capital city to capital city, and wreaking havoc in each one." Gabriel said with exhaustion "I didn't know how to contact you, so the house elves have been telling any callers that we're doing our best to minimise the damage."

"Gabriel, with me." Harry said, as he walked towards his office.

"Harry, I forgot to mention…" Gabriel tried to say, but Harry had already walked into his office to find six people all standing around his desk looking very irritable.

"…I forgot to mention that you have guests" Gabriel said, shuffling into the corner of the room.

"Do any of you have an appointment?" Harry asked

"No." They all replied in unison.

"But ve do have issues to discuss, and es representatives of ze world's governments ve demand you take action!" Said one of the six, his accent suggesting a French origin.

"I appreciate you've all come a long way to discuss issues of great importance with me." Harry said, rubbing his temples "But like you said, I have to action."

Conjuring 6 rings, he charmed them all with a communication function. "Here." He said, passing one to each of them. "Twist the ring 3 times if you run into further issues with Loki, but for now I must insist you all leave."

All of them filed out, disgruntled and entirely unsatisfied.

"Thank you for visiting." He said shaking the German ambassador's hand.

"Pleasure meeting you." He told the Japanese consular.

"Do come again." He mentioned to the British envoy.

Shutting the door behind them, Harry leant against it breathing a sigh of relief.

"Fetch me my crystal ball. We're going to have to resort to divination." Harry said to Gabriel.

Gabriel rushed across the room and retrieved a foggy orb from the cabinet, where it rested comfortably on an ornate pillow. He placed it atop the plinth embedded in Harry's desk.

"Grab the book as well." Harry said, peering into the misty depths of the orb.

"Yes, yes, I'm seeing something. A hand, I'm seeing a hand." Harry said

Gabriel began to flick through Demystifying Destiny, searching for a translation "Is the hand clenched or open?"

"Open, I think."

"Wonderful, we're on the right track then. An open hand refers to a god."

Peering into the crystal ball once more Harry spied another object "I'm seeing something else, it's a glowing cube, blue I'm thinking."

"Cube, cube…" Gabriel said, consulting the index "Aha, cube. That refers to the many sided nature of existence."

"Are you sure you're not reading Unfogging the Future, because I can't help but feel as if that's completely false?"

Harry stared intently into the orb again, trying to part the veil of the future a little further.

"Still seeing a glowing cube. What glowing cubes do I know of?" Harry thought "The Box of Infinite Terrors…was lost to the ocean a century ago. The cube of confusing conundrums…is quite useless."

"The tesseract?" Said Gabriel from the corner

"Don't be silly, the tesseract isn't even a cube it's more of a…cube. Gabriel you're right!" Harry cried out. "How didn't I see this earlier? It's so bloody obvious! Loki is Nordic, the tesseract is Nordic, therefore the cube is the tesseract"

"Isn't the tesseract safe though? Isn't it under 1000's of meters of steel reinforced concrete, the SHEILD security memo said the tesseract had been given the highest level of protection." Gabriel inquired

"A tip Gabriel, never trust anyone to do anything which you could do better yourself. I wish I had written that down somewhere for when I happily allowed SHIELD to retain custody of the tesseract."

Harry would have to leave now if he wanted to put his prophetic knowledge to use. "Gabriel fetch me my hat and pipe!"

"Which hat?"

"My detective hat."

With a deerstalker on his head and a pipe stuffed with fluxweed, Harry apparated to the SHIELD Joint Dark Energy Mission Facility.

—

With a crack Harry appeared in the facility only to find it in chaotic disarray. It seemed as if he wouldn't get to play detective on this day.

"All personnel, the evacuation order has been confirmed. Proceed to your designated vehicles and commence evacuation" Bellowed the voice from the facility's loudspeakers.

Jeeps were zooming by, black crates being packed into them, and everyone from scientists to administrators being shuttled out of the facility.

"What the hell is happening?" Harry shouted to one of the nearby SHIELD agents, struggling to be heard over the roar of helicopters and the rumble of car engines.

"There's been a code red in section 7. All personnel have to evacuate, find your designated vehicle and leave immediately." Said the agent before running off to help load munitions onto a truck.

Harry didn't need to find section 7 himself, as just a few second later a large military helicopter settled on the nearby landing pad, the door of which opened to reveal one Nicholas Fury.

"Director! It's me Harry!" Harry shouted, rushing over to Fury with childlike glee.

"Good your here. I assume you got my message." Fury said gruffly as they walked over to one of the large warehouses.

"Message, no. Crystal ball, yes." Harry said mysteriously.

"Hmmm." Fury said suspiciously "This is Agent Coulson, he'll be your liaison for the foreseeable future."

"Got it. Now fill me in on all the gossip."

"The tesseract has been exhibiting energy fluctuations." Coulson said, consulting a manilla folder stuffed with documents.

"That'll be Loki."

"Loki?" Fury said as they stepped into an elevator and were joined by Agent Maria Hill.

"The Norse god of mischief. A title which I've always found misleading, as mischief has always been such an innocent word in my eyes, and let me say this: Loki is anything but innocent."

"What does he want with the tesseract?" Hill asked

"What does anyone want with the tesseract? It's a massive source of magical energy, people like Loki go mad for those sorts of things." Harry said nonchalantly.

They had reached the lower levels, and after Fury had sent Hill and Coulson off on individual assignments they entered.

"Talk to me Doctor!" Shouted Fury

"The tesseract is behaving." Cried Doctor Selvig from where he was working on the energy harness.

"Once again, that would be our dear friend Loki." Harry said, exhausted by the ignorance of SHIELD already.

"Brother of Thor?" Selvig asked.

"That's the one."

"We're experiencing another power surge Doctor." One of the technicians said from his monitoring station.

"Everyone stand back! We may have a rogue deity on our hands, and things could get messy." Harry said, withdrawing his wand from the insides of his emerald and gold robes.

The tesseract suddenly started to emit a powerful blue beam, projecting a column of cerulean energy at the wall. The energy merged into a large portal, the centre of which was an inky black speckled with silver flecks. It was as if it was a window into space. The energy ruptured and erupted throughout the room, with what was left rising up towards the ceiling, leaving a smoking figures kneeling on the metal grate covering the area where the portal once was.

Loki, wreathed in dying blue flames, looked up, manically grinning, to stare down the steely gaze of Director Fury.

"Sir. Please put down the spear." Fury said, referring to the glowing sceptre in Loki's right hand.

Loki looked at Harry, Harry looked at Fury, Fury looked at Loki, Loki, done with looking, leapt into the centre of the room after launching a bolt of blue energy into the mix.

Harry, wand in hand and poised to let off a barrage of spells, felt the energy in the room shift. On instinct, he turned around and noticed something odd: the energy from the tesseract hadn't evaporated as he had thought. Instead, it had gathered against the ceiling and like a parasite, it was sapping the roof of it's structural integrity. Cracks were starting to form, splintering out in every direction. If the roof sustained any more damage, the room would collapse in on it self, and if the remaining tesseract energy became more unstable, the entire complex would be obliterated.

Sprinting towards the metal grate beneath the build up of unstable tesseract energy, Harry slid to his knees and cast the only spell he thought could contain this.

"Protego Maxima!" Harry shouted, a shimmering blue sheet of energy was projected from Harry's wand and pressed up against the destabilising remnants of the portal. Harry turned his head to see that Loki had dealt with almost everyone in the room with ease…except for Fury. They appeared to be debating humanity's positions in the cosmic order, an odd thing to be doing while Harry struggled to contain a highly destructive force only metres away.

A gun shot echoed throughout the room, followed by the dull thud of someone falling to the ground. Harry couldn't see who it was, but he felt the tesseract's energy leaving the room even though the blinding light streaming down form the ceiling prevented him from seeing it's actual departure.

Sensing the tesseract's energy was about to reach breaking point, Harry dispelled the shield he'd been using and jabbed at the ceiling with his wand, sending a bubble of transparent rippling matter drifting towards the tesseract's unstable mass: encompassing it in a protective sphere. It wouldn't last long, but for Harry it would buy him enough time to to flee the facility and track down Loki.

Turning around, Harry found Fury on his back, sprawled in disarray atop the rubble.

"Fury!" Harry said, bending down to see if he was still alive. "Fury, there's still work to do, and I don't fancy having to apparate with you over my shoulder!" Harry said, topping it off with a firm slap across his face.

"You better not have just slapped me." Fury croaked, stumbling to his feet, and removing the bullet from where it was lodged in his kevlar vest.

"Oh! Thank the gods! Without you I wouldn't have been able to make it back to the surface, I've completely forgotten which elevator we took." Harry said, deeply relieved.

"Hill! Do you copy? Barton's been compromised." Fury barked into his radio, getting no response.

"They've got the tesseract, shut them down." Fury said once more into his radio, before affixing it back onto his belt.

Harry offered his arm to Fury, already feeling the forces of the built up tesseract energy pulling him back into the portal chamber.

"What's that for?" Fury said, gesturing to his arm.

"Transport."

Fury shrugged, but grabbed on anyway. With a crack, and for Fury an unexpected swirl of colours, Harry and the Director apparated up to the surface level right next to the landing pad.

A helicopter sat there, it's rotors spinning rapidly creating a cyclone of wind in the vicinity.

"Director! We need to leave now!" Coulson said from the chopper, holding his hand out to Fury.

"Potter, with me!" Fury said, leaning out from the cabin of the aircraft.

"Yes sir!" Harry said, giving the Director a salute in the process.

The chopper lifted up into the air, the ground rupturing beneath it, blue pillars of light creeping out from the cracks. As the aircraft veered up and away from the facility, the ground swelled, and just as the vehicle had reached a safe distance, it exploded outwards launching rubble in every direction.

"That was a close shave." Harry said "Good thing I slapped you I guess."

"Sir, we've spotted an unidentified vehicle in the distance." The pilot said from the cockpit

"Does this aircraft have weaponry capabilities?" Fury asked no-one in particular

"It can't do anything but fly sir." Said Coulson.

"If you take us down a little lower, I can get a clean shot on Loki." Harry said "It may not do much, but it could give us enough time to restrain him."

"Pilot, you heard the wizard." Fury said

The chopper took a nose dive, taking a sharp angled descent, and compelling everyone to find something to hold onto. Harry leaned out of the cabin door, one hand clenched around a handle attached to the roof of the craft, and lined up his shot: a single, high powered stupefy would be like using rabbit tranquilliser on an elephant, but anything more could risk the lives of the SHIELD agents Loki had under his control.

1, 2, 3!

"Stupe-" Harry said but was cut off by a large blast and the aircraft began to plummet to the ground (this time not purposefully). Loki had taken out their engines with a single shot from their sceptre and Harry's wand had gone whistling to the desert floor. Harry looked to see if the pilot was still conscious to find that he had sustained serious wounds from the impact. Blood was spewing everywhere. A single drop came careening towards Harry's face, and when it landed…Harry fainted in an instant. Slumped in his seat, his head resting on Fury's shoulder, Harry and the chopper continued to plummet to the desert floor until they crashed with a bang.

After rolling out of the chopper, Fury fired off a few gunshots, but it wasn't enough: Loki and his hypnotised henchmen had fled into the night.

"Director, Director Fury, do you copy?" Hill's voice said from the radio.

"The tesseract is with a hostile force. I have men down. Hill, your status?" Fury said, getting to his feet from where they had crashed.

"A lot of men still under, don't know how many survivors." Hill said, her voice laced with pain from the damage she had sustained from the high speed pursuit.

"Sound the general call. I want every living soul not working rescue looking for that brief case."

"Roger that." Hill said, signing off.

"What are we going to do?" Coulson said, eyeing the wreckage hopelessly.

"I'm not entirely sure, but we should probably start with extinguishing Mr. Potter." Fury said, looking over at the still unconscious Harry who's robes were smouldering. Harry woke up with a jolt, wildly patting the fires with his hands in an attempt to put them out.

"What the hell happened?" Harry said groggily, stumbling to his feet while rubbing an angry graze on the back of his head.

"As of right now, we are at war."


	10. Pride and Protection

"What? Why are we at war? How much exactly happened while I was unconscious on the desert floor." Harry questioned, still recovering from his fainting fit and the injuries which followed.

"Loki has the tesseract." Coulson said bluntly, picking through the debris in an effort to find his sunglasses.

"The Norse God Loki?" Harry asked.

"Yes."

"The all powerful tesseract capable of unfathomable feats?"

"Yes."

"Well…planet Earth is doomed." Harry muttered, taking a seat on a jagged piece of the helicopter's rotors.

"We at SHIELD won't be giving up quite so easily. This is the only planet we've got." Said Fury, withdrawing a flare gun from his pocket and firing it into the air.

"Good, cause neither am I. I do live here you know, and I don't like the idea of Loki rifling through my things after he's done conquering. I'm sure he'd love to get his divine hands on some of the BMA's more dangerous artefacts, not to mention my antique quill collection." Harry said poisonously, brushing off the thick layer of sand that had clung to his robes after having been unconscious atop it for no small amount of time.

Harry could see a SHIELD jeep hurtling towards them from the base and after a moment or two it screeched to a halt to pick up Fury and Coulson.

"Meet me at the SHIELD mobile operations hub in 2 hours." Said Fury, climbing into the back of the jeep.

"Where and what is that?" Harry queried.

"A courier will deliver the carriers location and specifications to your offices within the hour." Fury said, giving the signal for the driver to go.

"No time to waste then." Harry said to the vast emptiness of the desert surrounding him.

With crack and a whirl of colours, Harry disappeared from the site of the wreckage and into great unknown (which in this case was the BMA's headquarters).

—

Harry popped into the centre of the BMA's offices with a light gust of air. They seemed eerily still. Sure, a few house elves were processing potion permits, but apart from that the BMA appeared unaffected by the catastrophe Harry had just been neck deep in.

"Gabriel!" Harry shouted to his assistant currently labelling and logging confiscated magical artefacts.

"Harry!" Gabriel said with a smile on his face "You'll never believe it, but all of a sudden Loki stopped wreaking havoc across the globe a few hours ago. How was the tesseract? Safe and sound I imagine?"

"It and Loki have buggered off to god knows where." Harry said moodily, walking towards his office with Gabriel trailing behind him.

"The Norse God Loki?" Gabriel asked.

"Is there any other?

"Ahhh, ok. The all powerful tesseract capable of unfathomable feats?"

Harry rolled his eyes as confirmation.

"Yes, I see how that would be a problem." Gabriel stuttered hesitantly.

"Well, I plan on doing something about it. I don't know where I'd move if the earth was imploded. I guess my holiday house on Pluto is always an option. Although it has lost it's appeal after it was designated a dwarf planet. Harry Potter doesn't live on anything less than a moon, thank you very much! " Harry shouted indignantly.

"What are we doing in your office then?" Gabriel asked quizzically "Shouldn't we be going to the UN or something? Aren't they in charge of alien invasions?"

"Maybe they could handle a normal alien invasion, I don't know. But they certainly aren't equipped to respond to a magical alien invasion." Harry said, opening the oaken door to his office "And as to why we're in my offices. You'll soon find out."

Harry walked towards the bookshelf covering the entire wall opposite his door and stared at it intently.

"I think I remember the password…barely." He said, withdrawing his wand from within his robes.

"Moby Dick." Harry muttered tapping the spine of a book with the end of his wand "Pride and Prejudice, The Tome of Terrible Treasures, and…Murder on the Orient Express." Harry said under his breath, tapping the spine of each, one after the other. With this, the room began to shake violently knocking fragile trinkets from his table and mantle, purple lights burst out from every book, and the screech of some long forgotten monster wailed throughout the room. DING! The centre of the bookshelf swung open with a whining creak.

"Must get that fixed. Those lights are supposed to be pink not purple, and that monstrous wail sounded nothing like the nightmarish screech it was supposed to be." Harry said, walking through the newly opened bookcase. Gabriel followed him into the room beyond and found himself to be in a round wooden chamber, much like a cylinder. The wood which lined it's walls had runic carvings on it, forming an intricate mosaic of symbols. The ceiling was reasonably high and in the centre of the room stood a stone pillar which reached the middle of their chests'.

"Do you still have that key I gave you?" Said Harry, gesturing towards the two key holes embedded into the top of the pillar. Gabriel reached underneath the white dress shirt he was wearing and withdrew a heavy golden key which hung from a silver chain around his neck.

"I barely notice the neck pain anymore." Gabriel said through gritted teeth, rubbing the back of his head.

Harry withdrew his own key and both of them inserted their respective keys and turned them in unison. A mechanism could be heard clanking about within and with a sudden jolt, the pillar and the wooden flooring surrounding it raised off of the ground and began to ascend. They rose higher and higher, reaching the ceiling only for it open at their arrival, allowing them to soar beyond the roof of the BMA's headquarters. The platform stopped after surpassing the roof by at least 6 meters and a railing rose from the edge of the platform, encircling them both.

"That was probably the last thing I expected to happen after inserting a key into a concealed stone pillar located in a ritual chamber behind a secret bookcase door." Gabriel said, peering over the railing and across the skyline of New York.

"Well, I got it at a garage sale, so I was just as surprised as you when we started going up. Luckily I installed that hinged ceiling turret a few weeks ago, or you'd be suffering from painfully large splinters as well as surprise." Harry retorted, withdrawing his wand from within his robes and sticking it into a hole just below the top of the rough stone pillar and embedded in the outline of a circle. Gripping his wand with both hands Harry began cranking, and as he did the pillar disassembled itself. The top of the pillar blossomed open and from within rose a complicated metal contraption. It's arm extended itself like an accordion, on the end of which was a green crystal encased by a triangular golden frame and sealed with a sparkling glass.

"This is your plan to defend planet Earth?" Asked Gabriel quizzically

"It's called a cross planetary protego array projector." Harry said proudly "It's an invention of my own making. You see, this is one of three projectors on the surface of Earth. The other two are in Russia and Australia, and together they are the best hope this god forsaken rock has of surviving anything extra terrestrial."

"How exactly does it work? Is it like a trebuchet?" Gabriel asked, spinning a little doodad on the projector before Harry batted his hand away.

"When activated all three of these projectors will emit a beam of pure defensive magic into the sky. For those beams to actually be of use, I launched three corresponding runic satellites into the Earth's orbit. When each beam collides with it's respective runic satellite they will encompass the planet in a defensive casing. It's top of the line, best model on the market, and surprisingly easy to use. But that's mainly cause I designed and built it."

"Wow…ummm, when exactly did you have time to do this?" Gabriel asked, still coming to grips with the device.

"You know how I go to yoga for 45 minutes each day?" Harry asked

"Yes.."

"Well, I actually got to yoga for 30 minutes and work on this for the remaining 15. I mean, sure. I could have just stopped going to yoga and dedicated the full 45 minutes to this, probably would have completed it faster that way. But my mental well being is just as important as the physical wellbeing of Earth's 7 billion inhabitants!"

"I do tai chi myself. It's very soothing." Gabriel said

"I may look into that." Harry said, reading from a page in his notebook "If you step back, I'll activate the array and we can nip this Loki problem in the bud."

Notebook in hand, Harry began reciting the activation spell. "Strenuus in praesidio fabrica" Harry incanted, waving his wand in a circular fashion for three rotations. As he did this the device began to crackle with electricity and a powerful gale encircled the the projector and the two people activating it. With a find flourish, Harry tapped the green gem and said "Proelium!".

A green beam of energy burst from the prismatic tip of the device and pierced the sky. After it reached it's corresponding runic satellite a wave of green energy rippled from the beam, blanketing the planet in a barrier of pure magic. With this, the maelstrom of wind ceased and the arcs of electricity died down, allowing Harry and Gabriel the opportunity to pull them selves up from where they'd been thrown to the ground.

"That should hold them off for at least a fortnight, less if my runes were inaccurate…which they probably are, I fell asleep just as I was carving elgr." Harry said, trying to style his hair how it was prior to the magical wind storm.

"A fortnight? Just a fortnight?" Gabriel asked incredulously

"I can't just wave my magic wand and make everything right…actually, scratch that, of course I can. But that magic can only last so long. Have you seen how large Earth is? It's no Jupiter of course, but it's still a whopper of a celestial body and the larger the object the more difficult it is to protect." Harry said, tapping the railing with his wand. They smoothly descended into the ritual chamber, the roof closing behind them, and returned to Harry's office.

"So that's how you activate a cross planetary protego array projector. It'll look great on your resume." Harry said to Gabriel, reclining in his padded leather office chair.

"Do you want me to grab you lunch? The deli's having a sale on all purchases of cured meat over 10kg. Are you in the mood for 10kg of salami?" Gabriel asked, getting his notebook out in preparation of Harry's order.

"As much as I'd love to drastically increase my risk of bowel cancer, I'm expecting a package." Harry responded, rapping his fingers on the oaken desk.

"Is it that new cape you ordered from the tailor?"

"Sadly not, apparently Alfonzo had to get the silk imported. It's the coordinates to a secret SHIELD headquarters. I hope I don't have to sign for it, my hand is cramped after that activation ritual."

A house elf popped into existence before them, jumping excitedly from one leg to the other.

"Master Harry sir, someone's at the door, theys wanting to give you something." Squeaked Tipsy

"Send them in, and get me an almond croissant for when I get back." Harry said, the elf popping away almost immediately.

After a few moments of small talk between Harry and Gabriel (Harry asked about Gabriel's father and Gabriel asked Daredevil), a severe looking woman strode into the room. She had a briefcase handcuffed to her arm and was dressed in a black suit, Harry could tell she was with SHIELD as she was wearing sunglasses indoors.

" , please sign here." She said, withdrawing an iPad from within her jacket.

Harry signed his name (reluctantly) and she unlocked the handcuffs before giving over the briefcase and all it's contents.

"You're expected in 30 minutes or earlier, dress sharp, and make sure your ID card is visible at all times…the guards have itchy trigger fingers." She said, before walking towards the exit of Harry's office.

"What's your name?" Harry asked

"That's none of your concern." She said before turning and leaving his office entirely.

"They never tell me their names." Harry said to Gabriel "I'll call her Cassandra for the meantime."

Opening the briefcase he emptied it of it's contents: a manilla folder stuffed with files, an ID card on a retractable lanyard, and tin of SHIELD branded mints.

"I wonder if Fury is trying to send me a message." Harry said, opening the mints and popping one into his mouth.

"You have very pleasant breath sir." Gabriel quickly said

"You're damn right I do." Harry said hotly, flicking through the stuffed folder "Well, colour me impressed. SHIELD's certainly done their research. Go fetch my coat Gabriel, I have a feeling I'm going to need it based on these coordinates."

"Why is that?"

"They correspond to the middle of the damn ocean."


	11. Crisis and Carrier

Harry was mounting his broom on the roof of the BMA's headquarters. Gabriel came rushing up the stairs to bring him his satchel packed with everything he might require.

"I've packed a sandwich and a blueberry muffin as well." Said Gabriel, as Harry slung the satchel bag across his body and slotted his feet into the broom's stirrups.

"Is it ham or beef?"

"One of each."

"You know me too well." Harry said, bringing his goggles down over his eyes.

"Is there any reason you can't just apparate there?" Asked Gabriel

"Not just any reason, a myriad of compelling reasons. Firstly, apparating over oceans gives me something of a rumbly tummy." He said, fiddling with the neatly aligned twigs on the back of the broom "Secondly, coordinates are painfully difficult to visualise, thus making them difficult to apparate with." Tapping on the compass affixed to the front of the broomstick "And lastly, I haven't flown for an absolute age."

"Very good, sir." Gabriel muttered meekly, not expecting such a passionate response.

"I might be gone for some time Gabriel, so just remember to lock up before you leave every day and make sure to keep an eye on the house elves."

"You have my word." Gabriel said, tearing up a little bit while he did a mock salute.

"In that case, I'll be off."

Harry zoomed away from the rooftop, the speed of his departure knocking Gabriel to the ground.

"Tell me if you need any help!" Shouted Gabriel, through cupped hand, at Harry's ever shrinking figure.

—

Harry was gliding through the, weaving between the skyscrapers of New York and evading the birds that often flew across his path. The Cosmic Charger was the height of broom wizardry. It had taken 12 years, 500,000 galleons, and 27 sets of singed eyebrows to develop. But in the end, it was most certainly worth it. With top speeds of 170km/h, an inbuilt compass, luxurious padding, and state of the art Ether Drive, the Cosmic Charger was the perfect broom for the modern, urban, witch or wizard (or at least the marketing campaign had made it seem that way). Even though the broom's top speed was 170km/h, one couldn't achieve that by simply flying it: for the broom to breach 100km/h the Ether Drive had to be activated. This was the pride and joy of the Charger. Developed by Belgian wizard Garlan Gérard in 1942, the Ether Drive revolutionised magical transport. Originally, it could only be installed in larger devices, such as magic carpets, but the Cosmic Charger was the first broom to successfully integrate it. Thanking the nation of Belgium for this gift, Harry lay himself flat on the broom, secured himself to the broom with a few well placed sticking charms, and sent an activation spell back at the broom's bristles. They sparked for a few second before emitting a powerful beam of pure white light, launching Harry and the broom off hurtling into the distance. The sky streaked around Harry, contorted by the magic of the Ether Drive and the extreme speed at which he was travelling. He'd only done this a few times before, and even though the broom emitted a protective barrier around it's user when the Ether Drive was active, it still gave Harry a minor headache. He zipped and zoomed through the sky, making minor adjustments based on the compass' flickering needle and getting ever closer to his destination in the process. Fury had been light on details regarding the nature of the location he was travelling to. He could be speeding towards a wild Kraken or a gaping whirlpool for all he knew. By the time his hair had become truly windswept he could spy a shape in the distance. By Harry's reckoning it was a large grey island, dotted with concrete palm trees and lead coconuts. Of course that sort of thing tended not to exist, so he set that aside for the time being. Seeing that if he kept up this speed any longer he'd be making far less a graceful entrance than he had hoped, Harry deactivated the Ether Drive and attempted to recover from the extreme velocity he'd had inflicted against him for the past few minutes. Now that the sky around him was no longer being warped by experimental travel magic, Harry could see that the location he was approaching was no grey island: it was a metal monstrosity, which rather functioned exactly like an island.

" , please allow one of our staff to guide you to the ground." Said an amplified voice emanating from a control tower on the side of floating metal beast. Looking down at the deck of the Helicarrier, Harry saw a figure in a fluro vest and a glowing signalling baton in each hand directing his descent. Following the SHIELD operative's careful instructions, Harry landed his broom gently on the deck of the Helicarrier and dismounted.

"Long time no see ." Said Maria Hill, as she strode over to him

"Deputy Director Hill. So good of Fury to send someone to meet me."

"He was eager to put you to work as soon as humanly possible."

"Wizardly possible, in fact."

"Excuse me?" Hill asked quizzically, frowning at Harry's comment.

"No, your right. There hasn't really been enough substantial research into the subject of magical genetics to truly prove that us wizards and witches are in fact a seperate species to humans."

"Well I'm happy to hear it. We're having enough problems with aliens as it is."

Harry was escorted by Maria to the bridge where Fury stood barking orders at the rows of SHIELD agents surrounding him.

"Do muggles have a name for this device you've lured me to?" Harry asked as he entered.

"I imagine by muggle you mean people who aren't you? If so, muggles do not. Owing to the fact that most muggles don't know this exist, and we'd like to keep it that way." Fury said from his navigation platform.

"But among those who do know of it's existence?"

"Officially, it's called Project Theta. Unofficially, it's called the Helicarrier." Said Fury with a touch of pride.

"I understand the carrier part, but I'm not sure how 'heli' factors into it."

"Wait a minute or two and you'll find out."

With that, sirens started sounding across the Helicarrier.

"Flight crew, secure the deck for imminent transition." Harry heard, as it came booming over the speaker system.

"I'd suggest you take a seat. Things may get a bit choppy." Fury said as he started issuing commands once more.

The entire carrier shook with the force of the four turbines which were building up to immense speeds. The crew hurried to secure the fighter jets, refuelling vehicles and on decks supplies as the Helicarrier lifted gradually off of the ocean's surface and into the sky.

The SHIELD agents in the bridge bustled about, reciting figures at one another as preparations were made for their increasing ascent.

"All engines operating. SHIELD emergency protocol 193.6 in effect." Said Hill from the monitor she was peering at.

"We're at level sir." Announced one of the flight crew from the other side of the room.

"Good, let's vanish."

Fury turned around to where Harry was sitting, shellshocked by the technology on display.

"Is that explanation enough?"

"I have…thousands of follow up questions, but I have the gist of it." Said Harry, shaking off his stupor.

"Gentlemen." Fury said, as he addressed the two men who had entered during lift off "Let me introduce you to our consulting magical expert: Harry Potter, Chief of the Bureau of Magical Affairs." He said, sweeping his hands down to where Harry was sitting at the conference table.

"Pleasure to meet you both." Harry said, eagerly getting up and shaking each of their hands.

"The same Harry Potter that claimed to be a wizard on national television?" Asked Banner

"Not only do I claim to be a wizard, I am a wizard. I wasn't asked to consult with SHIELD on the tesseract because I can do a card trick or two. Cause I can do at least 6, off the top of my head."

"I met some of your sort in Germany." Steve said "They were good men, all of them. At least the one's I fought with."

"I'll hazard a guess and say you're Steve Rogers then. Wizards haven't taken much interest in world military conflicts since WW2." Harry said, taking a seat once more.

"That's me." He said a little stiffly, before walking over to Fury and slipping him a $10 bill.

After Fury made his own introductions they got started.

"Where are you with locating the tesseract?" Banner said, taking off his jacket.

"We're sweeping every wirelessly accessible camera on the planet. If it's connected to a satellite it's eyes and ears for us." Phil Coulson informed them from his position in front of at least 10 buzzing monitors, pictures flashing rapidly across each and every one

"That's still not gonna find it in time." Said Agent Romanoff from where she was crouching by one of the analysts.

"Romanoff." Harry said, surprised "I didn't recognise you out of your combat ensemble.". Harry imagined she simply owned multiple versions of the SHIELD issued combat gear.

"I do have a life outside of work, however minuscule it may be." Romanoff snapped

"You're gonna have to narrow your field. Call every lab you know and tell them to put their spectrometers on their roof and calibrate them for gamma rays. In the meantime, I'll rough out a tracking algorithm." Banner said as he scribbled down notes on his pad and rolled up his sleeves in preparation of many tiresome hours of work.

"Potter, anything you can do?" Asked Fury

"I could try scrying, but Loki's not some two bit thug. He'll have cloaked the tesseract in as many defensive spells as possible. The good things about that is that he won't have thought to protect against good old science. So 's plan should work a treat."

"Well, get out your crystal ball and hop to it." Barked Fury before returning his attention to the operation of the Helicarrier.

"Shall we ?" Inquired Harry before they were whisked away by Agent Romanoff to the onboard lab.

"You'll love it doc, we've got all the toys." Romanoff claimed as they strolled down the corridors of the Helicarrier.

"As long as it's a calm working environment I should be fine."

"What is your line of work ?"Asked Harry as they continued their journey deeper into the Helicarrier.

"I'm a physicist, and occasionally I transform into a large green monster."

"You know, in the magical community that would just be a peculiar eccentricity." Harry said thoughtfully, thinking that perhaps he was wrong to say that considering how horribly werewolves used to be treated.

"When you say magical what exactly do you mean?" Asked Banner as they arrived at the lab.

"I'll leave you two to settle in." Said Romanoff as she left them as swiftly as she had joined them.

"It's really quite simple: witches and wizards a sub set of humans capable of manipulating ambient energy in order to achieve certain outcomes."

"But what does that look like in practice?" Asked Bruce, eyeing Harry's emerald and gold robes quite skeptically.

"People dressed in funny clothes, waving funny sticks, and saying funny words." Harry said smiling and once again seated.

"So all those fantasy authors got it right?"

"They all got it right cause quite a few of them were wizards and witches themselves. J.R.R Tolkien, a well respected transfiguration expert who spent most of his life in a quiet wizarding village in Dorset. Diana Wynne Jones, a world renowned scholar of the Dark Arts and at present runs an apothecary in London. Terry Pratchett…well, he's just a regular wizard, but he writes a damn good novel. Of course not every fantasy author comes from our community, but a fair few do. Do you really think humanity has that much imagination?"

Bruce sat down to start working on the tracking algorithm, only to notice that Harry was lounging in his chair while cleaning his wand with a cloth he'd had in his robes.

"Aren't you gonna get out your crystal ball?" Asked Bruce, feeling stupid for having to ask such a ridiculous question.

"While Fury is correct that crystal balls are used for divination, they're much better suited for vague premonitions. With an item as specific as the tesseract you need a more detail oriented method. That's why I like to use tea leaves." Harry said as he withdrew his teapot, cup and saucer from his magically extended satchel.

"I've got some chamomile if you like. I always keep some on me in case I get angry, it soothes my nerves better than any pharmaceutical." Banner said, withdrawing a little bag of it from his jacket pocket.

"I'm sure it does ." Harry said, pulling the rest of his tea set out of the satchel "But chamomile is notoriously unreliable. For this sort of precision divination you need a sturdy tea, something like an English Breakfast or an Earl Grey if you're feeling lucky."

Harry filled the teapot with water from his wand, heated it to boil, and steeped the tea leaves, from his satchel bag, in the pot. After watching work for 5 minutes or so, Harry poured himself a cup.

"Want to see me do it?" Harry asked Banner who was stooped over a computer terminal.

"Is it particularly exciting?"

"The result will be, the process…not so much."

Harry swirled his cup twice to the left and once to the right before turning the cup over the saucer and letting the leaves fall out.

"Do you see anything?" Banner asked from over his shoulder.

"An eagle I think." Harry said as he turned the saucer around in order to look at it from another angle. "Definitely an eagle."

"Is it in America then?" Banner asked hopefully

"Definitely not, it's not a bald eagle. It's a black eagle I believe. Any ideas?" Harry said, turning to banner

"Just one. I went to Germany for exchange back when I was in college and I recall their national animal is the black eagle. Just to clarify, their national animal looks like an eagle and it could be reasonably described as black." Banner said, beginning to doubt himself.

"I think you're right. Integrate that into the tracking algorithm and see if it works." Harry said triumphantly

Banner started typing furiously and to Harry's surprise actually modelled the algorithm with that in mind before sending it off to the bridge.

"You actually have faith in my abilities?" Harry inquired

"Enough to take a chance. I know that there's more to the world than anyone can understand. I mean, look at me. Before my exposure to gamma radiation, no one would imagine what I can do to be possible. If I can transform into a green monstrosity, why can't you be a wizard? Also, I saw you arrive on a broomstick, which is pretty compelling evidence." Banner said earnestly

"That's a relief." Harry said with an appreciative smile "I thought I'd have to pull a rabbit out of a hat for you."

"Could you actually do that?"

"I could pull a hedgehog out of a hat?"

"Why not a rabbit?"

"Rabbit's require advanced transfiguration abilities. Hedgehogs are for some reason far easier. I think it's to do with their spikes. Now, maybe I could do a rabbit, but it'd depend on the hat. A top hat, the obvious choice, doesn't have the right dimensions for that sort of magic. Give me a fez on the other hand, and well, now we're cooking with gas." Harry mused

" , , they need you on the bridge." A SHIELD agent said from the doorway.

They walked through the twisting labyrinth of corridors to make their way back to the bridge only to find it in a state of bustling activity.

"We've found Loki." Fury told them as they walked through the double doors of the Helicarrier's command centre.

"In 10 minutes?" Harry asked sceptically

"All thanks to 's tesseract algorithm. It turns out Loki is in Germany as well, Stuttgart to be exact." Fury told him impatiently

"Ahhhh, that's on me then. Not to steal the good doctor's thunder but it seems as if the tea leaves I used weren't as precise as I thought." Harry said a little sheepishly

"Your algorithm was informed by tea leaves ?" Fury said sternly

"Well either way they it found Loki didn't it?" Banner said

"Loki allowed us to find him." Harry chimed in "Frankly, this is a painfully obvious trap."

"That's why you'll be accompanying Captain Rogers to Stuttgart." Fury said, a slight smile on his face

"Am I just?"


End file.
